Today’s issue of WorkCompRecap features news on a closely followed piece of legislation that is making its way through California’s Senate. AB378 (Solorio) will make compound medications subject to a fee schedule, and will add pharmacy products to the list of medical services under the physician self-referral law.
The Association of California Insurance Companies (ACIC) has come out in support of the bill, with President Mark Sektnan saying that compounded medications present unique billing issues, and that “Insurers are seeing many instances where the bill for a compounded drug is several times higher than the comparable oral, FDA-approved, commercially available oral dosage.” According to ACIC, one insurer has seen compounded drugs go from 9.6% of pharmacy costs to 44 percent.
Find out more (including ACIC’s opposition of two other Work Comp bills!) by clicking here.
For more on AB 378 check out our previous Leaders Speak article by Jeff Miller of Paladin MCS: “Compound Drugs in California: Panacea or Problem?”