Future Retirement Success
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Investing
  • Stocks
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Investing
  • Stocks

Future Retirement Success

Investing

Idaho Leads the Nation Toward Expanding Pharmacists’ Scope of Practice

by August 14, 2023
August 14, 2023

Marc Joffe

With the national shortage of doctors and the cost of visiting a physician, policymakers should be offering patients the option to use other qualified medical providers. Aside from nurse practitioners, physician’s assistants, and nurse midwives, a category of professionals that can often step in for doctors is pharmacists. Because pharmacists have deep knowledge of drug benefits and side‐​effects, they are qualified to prescribe medications in many cases. Since patients often schedule medical appointments just to obtain or change prescriptions, empowering pharmacists to make certain prescribing decisions can reduce the burden on doctors and healthcare costs.

Many states are now allowing pharmacists to dispense contraceptives, emergency HIV preventatives, and vaccinations without involving a doctor. And, as my colleague Jeff Singer noted last year, the FDA has authorized pharmacists to prescribe Paxlovid to patients suffering from COVID-19.

But with the passage of HB 182 in 2019, Idaho has gone much further, allowing pharmacists to prescribe statin drugs to people who are on diabetes medications (statins have been shown to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease in people with diabetes), short‐​acting beta‐​agonists for those suffering asthma, nebulizers, influenza medications, and several other categories of prescription drugs and devices.

As explained by Alex Adams, formerly Executive Director of the Idaho State Board of Pharmacy, the state’s laws and regulations are intended to facilitate pharmacist prescribing if one of the following four conditions is met:

A new diagnosis is not required;
The condition to be treated is minor and generally self‐​limiting;
The condition has a test waived under the federal Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments (CLIA) to guide diagnosis; or
There is an emergency situation, whereby the patient’s health or safety is threatened without immediate access to a prescription.

The last category could have significant implications for health care costs as well as patient wellbeing. Quickly receiving the right prescription in an emergency may enable patients to avoid costly and time‐​consuming visits to the emergency room. That said, the Idaho law limits the amount of a medication a pharmacist may prescribe in an emergency situation to the quantity a patient needs until he or she can see another provider.

Other states are moving in Idaho’s direction. In 2021, Colorado adopted SB 21–094 which gave pharmacists the authority to change or extend physician’s prescriptions. It also authorized pharmacist prescribing for conditions in the first three categories included in the Idaho law: those involving no new diagnosis, those that are minor and generally self‐​limiting, and those identified by a CLIA‐​waived test.

Colorado‐​based Safeway pharmacies responded by offering “oral contraceptives, EpiPens, glucagon, diabetes supplies and treatments for UTIs, cold sores, acne, strep throat, flu, and migraines” without a doctor’s prescription.

Earlier this year, the Montana legislature passed SB 112, which, like Colorado, allows pharmacist prescribing in the first three categories covered by Idaho’s legislation. The bill passed with large majorities despite opposition from the American Medical Association.

Extending pharmacist scope of practice to include prescribing authority is a commonsense reform that more states should consider.

0
FacebookTwitterGoogle +Pinterest
previous post
Argentines Are All Peronists No Longer
next post
Department of Agriculture Bureaucracy

You may also like

State Medicaid Reform May Become Both Possible and...

November 22, 2024

Four Things the Senate Can Do to Improve...

May 22, 2025

Economizing on Medicaid Nursing Home Costs

June 29, 2023

Idaho Slides Backwards by Prioritizing Abstinence Over Preserving...

March 27, 2024

Seven Questions about the Trump Indictment

August 4, 2023

The SEC as ‘Everything Regulator’ Strikes Again

February 2, 2024

State Officials Can’t Appoint Federal Officers in Gulf...

March 25, 2024

Fed’s Asset Purchases Result in Increased Market Volatility

May 6, 2024

Should the Federal Government Subsidize Student Loans?

February 28, 2024

House Freedom Caucus on FISA: Verbal Fireworks

February 13, 2024

    Get free access to all of the retirement secrets and income strategies from our experts! or Join The Exclusive Subscription Today And Get the Premium Articles Acess for Free

    By opting in you agree to receive emails from us and our affiliates. Your information is secure and your privacy is protected.

    Recent Posts

    • Rubio condemns assassination attempt on Colombian presidential candidate Miguel Uribe

      June 8, 2025
    • Obama WH physician says Biden doc should have performed cognitive test

      June 8, 2025
    • Trump warns of ‘serious consequences’ if Elon Musk funds Democrats

      June 7, 2025
    • Musk jokes about reconsidering stance on Big Beautiful Bill after Schiff’s praise

      June 7, 2025
    • Musk deletes explosive posts about Trump and Epstein files

      June 7, 2025
    • House witness flips script on Dem who ambushed him during hearing with unearthed tweet: ‘Iceberg is ahead’

      June 7, 2025

    Categories

    • Business (8,152)
    • Investing (2,019)
    • Politics (15,570)
    • Stocks (3,136)
    • About us
    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms & Conditions

    Disclaimer: futureretirementsuccess.com, its managers, its employees, and assigns (collectively “The Company”) do not make any guarantee or warranty about what is advertised above. Information provided by this website is for research purposes only and should not be considered as personalized financial advice. The Company is not affiliated with, nor does it receive compensation from, any specific security. The Company is not registered or licensed by any governing body in any jurisdiction to give investing advice or provide investment recommendation. Any investments recommended here should be taken into consideration only after consulting with your investment advisor and after reviewing the prospectus or financial statements of the company.

    Copyright © 2025 futureretirementsuccess.com | All Rights Reserved