Montana News: Medicaid Tamper-Resistant Prescription Information

October 1, 2008 11:36 AM Topics: Tamper resistant prescription

Reprinted from the October 2008 Montana Board of Pharmacy Newsletter.

The following information was supplied by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) via its Web site on August 17, 2007. Beginning on October 1, 2007, in order for Medicaid outpatient drugs to be reimbursable by the federal government, all written, non-electronic prescriptions were required to be executed on tamper-resistant pads. This requirement was included in section 7002(b) of the US Troop Readiness, Veterans’ Care, Katrina Recovery, and Iraq Accountability Appropriations Act 2007. In August 2007, CMS issued a letter to state Medicaid directors with guidance on implementing the new requirement.

CMS has outlined three baseline characteristics of tamper-resistant prescription pads, but each state will define which features it will require to meet those characteristics in order to be considered tamper resistant. The baseline characteristics must: (1) prevent unauthorized copying of a completed or blank prescription form; (2) prevent the erasure or modification of information written on the prescription by the prescriber; or (3) prevent the use of counterfeit prescription forms.

By April 1, 2008, states needed to require at least one of these baseline requirements. By October 1, 2008, states must require all three characteristics on prescription pads in order to be considered tamper resistant. The letter to state Medicaid directors outlines situations where the new requirement does and does not apply. The requirement does not apply when the prescription is communicated by the prescriber to the pharmacy electronically, verbally, or by fax; a managed care entity pays for the prescription; or in most situations when drugs are provided in certain institutional and clinical facilities. The letter also allows emergency fills as long as a prescriber provides a verbal, faxed, electronic, or compliant written prescription within 72 hours. For detailed information on the requirements, please refer to the state Medicaid director letter.

For the full article, please visit the CMS Web site at www.cms.hhs.gov/DeficitReductionAct/Downloads/Tamper.pdf.