Bill Requiring Coverage of Partial Refills to Support Medication Synchronization Efforts Introduced in Missouri

Aimed to promote patient care, a Missouri bill would require that health benefit plans reimburse when pharmacies dispense less than a 30-day supply for the purpose of synchronizing a patient’s chronic medications. If passed, the bill (HR 2145) would apply to plans providing prescription drug coverage and would also require reimbursement when “the prescriber or pharmacist indicates the fill or refill could be in the best interest of the patient.”

Medication synchronization programs allow pharmacists to coordinate a patient’s medications to ensure his or her recurring prescriptions may all be refilled at the same time – usually once per month. To synchronize a patient’s medications, pharmacists are often required to dispense a special synchronization quantity of a medication that may be more or less than the original prescribed amount. More information about medication synchronization programs, the impact on patient adherence rates, and related state laws is presented in the article, “Medication Synchronization Shown to Improve Adherence for Patients on Multiple Drug Regimens,” published in the March 2014 NABP Newsletter (PDF).