2024 Legislative Priorities
KPhA's legislative priorities are set and ranked each year by our organization’s membership. At our annual Fall Conference, the House of Delegates convenes to discuss the biggest issues facing the profession in the Commonwealth and the policy solutions for which the Association will advocate. The House of Delegates ranked three top legislative priorities for the 2024 Regular Session.
Comprehensive Pharmacy Benefit Manager (PBM) Reform
KPhA will champion statutory changes to better regulate the practices of PBMs and protect pharmacies, pharmacists, and patients in the Commonwealth.
SB 188, introduced by Senator Max Wise (R-Campbellsville), will prohibit patient steering by health plans or PBMs, ensure adequate pharmacy access within PBM networks across Kentucky, and guarantee transparent and fair reimbursements to all pharmacies. The bill passed the Senate by a vote of 35-1. Representative Danny Bentley (R-Russell) championed the bill's passage in the House by a vote of 97-0, and was signed into law by Governor Andy Beshear on Friday, April 5th. This legislation will officially take effect on January 1, 2025!
Pharmacist Immunization Authority for Patients Age 5+
Current Kentucky law permits pharmacists to immunize patients ages 9+ pursuant to prescriber-approved protocols. The PREP Act previously granted pharmacists this authority for a broader age range of patients 3+. KPhA will advocate for codifying similar authority to allow our profession to provide care to a larger patient population. Pharmacists have proven that we are sufficiently trained and well-positioned to provide this service to children in our communities.
HB 274 was filed by Representative Danny Bentley (R-Russell), the only pharmacist legislator currently in the Kentucky General Assembly. This bill, which will allow pharmacists to immunize patients down to age 5 per prescriber-approved protocol, passed the House by a vote of 94-0 on Monday, February 5th. Senator Stephen Meredith (R-Leitchfield) carried the bill to its final passage in the Senate by a vote of 26-11 on Friday, March 22nd. The bill was signed into law by Governor Andy Beshear on Tuesday, March 26th and will take effect July 15, 2024!
Payment Parity for Pharmacist Services in Kentucky Medicaid
HB 48 (2021) enacted payment for pharmacist services by commercial payers. This means that when pharmacists provide care like flu and strep tests under Board-authorized protocols, for example, that the patient’s medical benefit can be billed and will reimburse the pharmacist. KPhA supports a matching policy for Kentucky Medicaid to ensure equal access to these services across patient populations.