Complete Story
 

09/24/2012

Governor Brown Signs SB 1095

ASCs now able to receive pharmacy license

The CASA Board and staff are delighted to announce that on Saturday, September 22, Governor Brown signed CASA sponsored  SB 1095 (Rubio), on ASC pharmacy licensure eligibility. The bill takes effect on Tuesday, January 1, 2013. This has been one of our ongoing legislative priorities for the past five years. It underscores CASA's commitment to being focused, vigilant and well positioned politically to accomplish our objectives.

The inability of California ASCs to obtain a pharmacy permit, particularly since the Capen vs. Shewry decision, has been an ongoing problem for ASCs.  We are very grateful to Senator Rubio who authored legislation to resolve this matter.  SB 1095 (Rubio) will allow an accredited outpatient setting or Medicare certified ambulatory surgical center to obtain a limited pharmacy license from the California Board of Pharmacy.  The ability to obtain a limited pharmacy license from the board is only currently authorized for state licensed surgical clinics.  Without a pharmacy license individual staff physicians are required to acquire and maintain on-hand a myriad of medications to dispense at the point of care as opposed to those medications simply being readily centralized and available by the ASC.

It is great to end the Legislative year on this positive note.  CASA Legislative Advocate, Bryce Docherty, will be providing a wrap up of the session after the Governor finalizes the bills that are still awaiting his signature.  As Bryce articulated at the 2012 Annual Conference, we expect ASCs to continue to be a focus for future changes.  We strongly encourage all CASA members to get involved by maximizing their PAC donation, and by developing a relationship with their local representatives.  A brief document with strategy and talking points is available at the following link (Talking Points).   CASA has also developed a marketing kit that will help you tell the ASC story (Marketing Kit ).  Please contact CASA Executive Director Beth LaBouyer with further assistance or questions at 530-790-7990 or info@casurgery.org.

Printer-Friendly Version