HF 1872

as introduced - 91st Legislature (2019 - 2020) Posted on 02/28/2019 02:31pm

A bill for an act
relating to health; establishing an education program for prescription drugs;
assessing fees; appropriating money; proposing coding for new law in Minnesota
Statutes, chapter 256B.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

Section 1.

new text begin [256B.0639] PRESCRIPTION DRUG EDUCATION PROGRAM.
new text end

new text begin Subdivision 1. new text end

new text begin Program design. new text end

new text begin The commissioner of human services, in collaboration
with the Board of Pharmacy, the University of Minnesota Medical School, and the University
of Minnesota College of Pharmacy, shall develop an evidence-based prescription drug
education program designed to provide information and education on the therapeutic and
cost-effective utilization of prescription drugs to health care professionals authorized to
prescribe drugs. The commissioner may contract for technical and clinical support in the
development and the administration of the program from entities conducting independent
research in the effectiveness of prescription drugs.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 2. new text end

new text begin Program components. new text end

new text begin (a) The program must include outreach and education
components regarding the therapeutic and cost-effective utilization of prescription drugs as
provided in peer-reviewed scientific, medical, and academic research publications. The
commissioner may limit the scope of the outreach and education to drugs identified by the
Drug Utilization Review Board, established under section 256B.0625, subdivision 13i, as
being: (1) the most subject to fraud, abuse, or gross overuse; (2) associated with inappropriate
or medically unnecessary care; or (3) associated with the increase in opioid addiction. To
the extent possible, the commissioner shall utilize or incorporate information regarding
clinical trials, pharmaceutical efficacy, adverse effects of drugs, evidence-based treatment
options, and drug marketing approaches that are intended to circumvent competition from
generic and therapeutically equivalent drugs, and shall incorporate into the program other
independent educational resources or models proven effective in promoting high-quality,
evidence-based, cost-effective information regarding the effectiveness and safety of
prescription drugs.
new text end

new text begin (b) Educational materials used by the program shall be based on a balanced and
comprehensive review of evidence that is accepted within the practice of medicine, including
scientific research that conforms to the generally accepted standards of experimental design,
data collection, analysis, and interpretation, with the purpose of providing unbiased
continuing education on the comparative efficacy, safety, and cost-effectiveness of
prescription drugs. The program may use materials that meet these criteria developed by a
medical school, an academic medical center, a school of pharmacy, a medical society, a
research institute, or another publicly sponsored prescriber education service.
new text end

new text begin (c) The program shall include, but is not limited to, in-person outreach and education
sessions for health care professionals in their place of work that shall be facilitated by
qualified educators.
new text end

new text begin (d) The commissioner shall establish:
new text end

new text begin (1) minimum clinical and educational qualifications for educators employed by or under
contract with the program;
new text end

new text begin (2) required training for educators; and
new text end

new text begin (3) a code of conduct governing the educators in their interactions with health care
professionals and conflict of interest guidelines for educators and others involved in advising,
developing, and administering the program.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 3. new text end

new text begin Program coverage. new text end

new text begin (a) The program must, except as provided in paragraph
(b), provide outreach and education to those groups and subgroups of health care
professionals who collectively prescribe 80 percent or more of prescription medications
dispensed to enrollees in the medical assistance and MinnesotaCare programs, and who
participate in, contract with, or are reimbursed by state health care programs.
new text end

new text begin (b) The commissioner may narrow the scope of outreach and education under paragraph
(a), or may limit the outreach and education to specific prescribers identified by the Drug
Utilization Review Board if the commissioner determines that this is a more cost-effective
use of resources.
new text end

new text begin (c) The program may provide outreach and education to health care providers, health
plan companies, hospitals, employers, and other persons interested in utilizing the program
on a subscription or fee-paying basis. The commissioner may establish subscription rates
and fees. Any revenue collected shall be appropriated for the administration of the
prescription drug education program.
new text end

new text begin (d) For purposes of this section, "state health care programs" include the medical
assistance program, the MinnesotaCare program, health care programs funded by the
Department of Corrections, and the state employee group health insurance program.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 4. new text end

new text begin Annual report. new text end

new text begin By April 1 of each year, beginning April 1, 2020, the
commissioner shall submit a report on the operation of the program to the chairs and ranking
minority members of the legislative committees with jurisdiction over health care policy
and finance. The report must include information on the outreach and education components
of the program; revenues, expenditures, and balances; and savings attributable to the program
in state health care programs.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 5. new text end

new text begin Funding. new text end

new text begin The commissioner may seek grants and private funds from nonprofit
charitable foundations to fund the planning, development, and ongoing operations of the
program.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 6. new text end

new text begin Fee assessed. new text end

new text begin The commissioner of human services, effective July 1, 2019,
shall assess each wholesale drug distributor required to be licensed under section 151.47 a
quarterly fee, equal to 0.5 percent of revenues the distributor would have received in the
most recent quarter for which drug utilization information by manufacturer labeler code is
available, had the distributor been reimbursed by the commissioner under section 256B.0625,
subdivision 13e, for drugs provided to medical assistance and MinnesotaCare enrollees.
The commissioner shall use revenues from the assessment to implement the prescription
drug education program.
new text end