California enacts "partial fill" legislation
California Gov. Jerry Brown has signed AB 1048 into law with the strong support of the California Medical Association and the AMA. The bill was based on AMA model legislation and sponsored by emergency physician and Assemblyman Juaquin Arambula, MD.
Provisions which become effective July 1, 2018, authorize a pharmacist to dispense a Schedule II controlled substance as a partial fill if requested by the patient or the prescriber. The bill would require the pharmacy to retain the original prescription, with a notation of how much of the prescription has been filled, the date and amount of each partial fill, and the initials of the pharmacist dispensing each partial fill, until the prescription has been fully dispensed.
The bill authorizes a pharmacist to charge a professional dispensing fee to cover the actual supply and labor costs associated with dispensing each partial fill associated with the original prescription. A separate provision that goes into effect Jan. 1, 2019, requires health insurers to prorate a patient's cost sharing for a partial fill.
