Connect with us

PRESS RELEASE - Assembly Passes Bill to Help Seniors Coordinate Prescriptions

Posted almost 5 years ago by Yonit Lipkind

Dear NPNY, 

See the latest bill passed below:

NEWS FROM 
Assembly Health Committee Chair  
Richard N. Gottfried 
822 Legislative Office Building, Albany, NY 12248 - Tel: 518-455-4941
250 Broadway, #2232, New York, NY 10007 - Tel: 212-312-1492

Contact:                                                        Thursday, June 13, 2019
Mischa Sogut                         
(518) 455-4941 

Assembly Passes Gottfried Bill to Help Seniors Coordinate Prescriptions 
On June 13th, 2019 the Assembly passed A. 2785, a bill I sponsored that would allow pharmacists to synchronize the dispensing of prescriptions for Medicaid patients so that patients can pick up multiple refills at the same time.
 
"Medication synchronization" allows for partial refills so that patients with multiple prescriptions can coordinate them, maximizing convenience, reducing waste, and helping patients comply with their medication.  Without this bill, patients would be blocked from obtaining such partial refills, and be required to pay a full months' co-pay for a month's supply, even if they didn't need it.
 
Approximately three out of four seniors today use more than two medications, and one-third of seniors take five or more.  This bill has been endorsed by the Northeast Kidney Foundation, Community Pharmacy Association, and Pharmacists' Society among other patient and provider organizations.  The companion bill sponsored by Senator Brad Hoylman is currently on the Senate floor.