Congress delays tamper-resistant prescription pad law

The law designed to cut down on Medicaid fraud by requiring physicians to write prescriptions on tamper-proof prescription pads has been pushed back six months after physicians and pharmacists raised concerns of time, cost and added administrative burdens. The House passed House Resolution 3688 Wednesday to delay full implementation to March 31, 2008.

Congress passed the original provision last May as part of the U.S. Troop Readiness, Veterans’ Care, Katrina Recovery and Iraq Accountability Appropriations Act of 2007. Under the law, Medicaid would only give federal reimbursement to pharmacists if patients’ prescriptions are written on tamper-resistant prescription pads—those that can’t be altered, erased or photocopied—or submitted electronically. If physicians did not use the special prescription pads, pharmacists would face the dilemma of either not filling the prescription or not being reimbursed.

The extended compliance period will allow for more pharmacists, Medicaid programs and physicians to be educated on the measure. The Health and Human Services Commission cites a savings of $510 million in Medicaid prescription fraud during a 10-year period.

In a Sept. 7 announcement, HHSC told providers to continue using normal prescription forms until further notice and that the HHSC commissioner is “actively working with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to determine when and how to implement the tamper-resistant prescription requirement.”

For more information on the original provision, read an Aug. 24 AAFP News Now story or a Sept. 6 AAFP News Now story. For more news on the delay, listen to coverage from National Public Radio.