Latest Updates

On July 1, 2021, the final version of the Ohio state budget passed out of Conference Committee, and was signed into law by Governor DeWine. During the committee process, Good Neighbor Pharmacy and Elevate sent out calls to action asking member stores to contact their state officials and urge their support for inclusion of a $50M supplemental Medicaid dispensing fee (for managed care) in the Ohio budget.

The Alliance to Modernize Prescribing Information is currently collecting pharmacist responses to a brief survey regarding use of electronic vs. paper-based prescribing information. AmerisourceBergen is a member of the alliance and we would greatly appreciate if you can take a few moments to complete the survey which will be helpful in ongoing advocacy efforts with members of Congress!

The bipartisan Long-Term Care Pharmacy Definition Act of 2021 (S. 1574) was recently introduced in the Senate by Senators Tim Scott (R-SC) and Mark Warner (D-VA). Senators Jacky Rosen (D-NV), Tina Smith (D-MN), Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), Jim Lankford (R-OK), Susan Collins (R-ME), and Bill Cassidy (R-LA), joined as original co-sponsors.

On June 17, 2021, the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) issued its highly anticipated opinion in the latest review of a challenge to the constitutionality of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (“ACA”), passed by Congress in 2010 (aka “Obamacare”). The Court held, 7-2, that the original petitioners (principally Texas and other states) did not have “standing” – basically that they did not show the court that they were injured by an allegedly unlawful act (the ACA’s individual mandate, with zero penalty since 2017 for non-compliance), and thus did not have a basis for bringing the case. Therefore, the ACA remains intact.

Good Neighbor Pharmacy and Elevate Provider Network are asking our Ohio based pharmacy customers to reach out to your Ohio state senators and representatives and urge them to support inclusion of the enhanced Medicaid dispensing fee (for managed care) in the Ohio 2022-23 budget.