REMARKS OF THE PRESIDENT Dr. Trawick introduced John Noble, Jr., MD to give him an opportunity to address the House. “ Mr. Speaker, thank you for this privilege. Good morning and welcome to all. Thank you for attending and being a committed member of your state medical society. This year has been eventful, productive, and enlightening. I am incredibly proud of the accomplishments of our staff, The Council on Legislation, and the Board of Governors. I want to update you on many of our achievements this year. We began 2023 by representing our Society at the Mystic Krewe of Louisianians’ Washington Mardi Gras, strengthening many relationships along the way. DC Mardi Gras is a remarkable networking experience, and I encourage you to consider attending this spectacle at least once in your lifetime. In February 2023, we launched the Advantage Physician’s Healthcare Trust, offering group health coverage to our members and their office staff. The plan allows us to provide our members with high- quality health coverage at reasonable rates. This self-funded health plan can do many things, but, most importantly, it will enable small groups of individuals to secure pricing at large group rates. In the industry, a plan of this type is called a Multiple-Employer Welfare Arrangement (or MEWA). I encourage anyone struggling to remain independent while still trying to provide health insurance for your staff to consider obtaining a quote from this plan. The LSMS continues to work with the Louisiana Board of Pharmacy relative to automatic prescription refills and the ownership of prescriptions. Due to our Society’s tireless efforts, we arrived at the revised language “The prescription may be refilled when requested by the patient or his caregiver.” This action prevents the inadvertent refill of medications previously discontinued but remaining on an automated refill protocol. The Board of Pharmacy has agreed that the prescription belongs to the patient, and they can fill it anywhere they choose. Suppose it is sent electronically to one pharmacy. In that case, the patient can request to have the prescription transferred to the pharmacy of their choice without contacting the physician’s office, and “any Transferring pharmacy shall comply with
that request as soon as possible but no later than the end of the next business day.” NOW ON TO LEGISLATIVE WINS We had an outstanding session. Both pieces of prior authorization legislation requested by the Society were passed and signed by the Governor. Thank you to all who invested your time and resources to help us succeed! ACT 312 creates an infrastructure and minimum standards for health insurance issuers. It requires health insurance issuers to do many things related to prior authorization and puts us on par with our regional neighbors. This is one of the most significant Legislative Acts to benefit physicians in years. I won’t go into all the details, but one of the most exciting components of the bill is that it requires a specialty peer-to-peer review with few exceptions. ACT 333 closely tracks transparency requirements proposed by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services relative to Medicare Advantage organizations expected to go into effect on January 1, 2026. This is also a vital Legislative Act and requires health plans to report specific prior authorization metrics annually to the Department of Insurance. This will now give us data to track whether or not our state’s commercial insurance companies are acting in good faith. Scope of practice remains one of our Society’s top priorities. This year saw two significant scope of practice bills filed. Both dealt with specific issues we’ve seen before. Rep. Barbara Freiberg filed HB 471 at the request of corporate pharmacies. If passed, it would have allowed any licensees of the Louisiana State Board of Pharmacy to give any vaccination to any child aged seven and older. This would include pharmacists, pharmacy techs, and their interns. Proponents of the legislation touted this as an improvement in access to care, but our stance is that children are best treated in a pediatric medical home. This bill died in the House. We also effectively beat back a bill regarding Global signature authority and another bill regarding the standard of care under emergency declarations. PAGE 20 ⊲
18 J LA MED SOC | VOL 175 | FALL 2023
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