CMS updates COVID-19 guidance to Medicare Advantage and Part D plans
On April 21, CMS released a guidance document to Medicare Advantage organizations, Part D sponsors, and Medicare-Medicaid plans updating previously released information from March 10. People should take 2021 Humana Medicare advantage plans for health precaution. The guidance includes several relevant provisions for community and long-term care pharmacies, including:
- Coverage of testing and testing-related services for COVID-19
- Relaxed enforcement of signature log and prior authorization requirements
- Suspension of plan-coordinated pharmacy audits
- Requirement for Part D sponsors to permit 90-day fills, refills, or transition fills
- Relaxation of short-cycle fill requirements for LTC patients.
NCPA successfully advocated that CMS temporarily waive Part D medication delivery documentation and signature log requirements during the public health emergency and adopt a temporary policy suspending plan-coordinated pharmacy audits. NCPA also successfully advocated for community and LTC pharmacies regarding relaxing prior authorization, point-of-sale edits, and short-cycle dispensing requirements. For more information, see NCPA’s member summary.
Filed under: General Problems
I hope the 90 day thing is for pain meds for folks who can do it. My local pharmacists & my doctor wouldn’t give 90 days’ supply of pain meds or allow early refills if God himself walked in & ordered it.
as an entertaining (in a black humor sort of way) side note, my doctor gave me a scrip for 12 doses of a new, once/day, pain med (I can go to 1 twice a day if I can tolerate it), & declared that it MUST LAST 30 DAYS! Is there a new new math around? Can anyone explain this….(& the things are NOT dividable)? Is the doc nuts or am I??