OPA COVID-19 Vaccines: August 9, 2021 Update

 

Medicaid Administration Fee for COVID-19 Vaccine Raise
Ohio’s managed care plans announced that the administration reimbursement has increased to $70 for pharmacy-led administration of the COVID-19 vaccine for patients enrolled in a Medicaid program. Pharmacists continue to lead the effort in vaccinating Ohioans. OPA encourages pharmacist vaccinators to continue to address vaccine hesitancy and engage patients in the opportunity to get the COVID-19 vaccine.

Independent Pharmacy COVID-19 Vaccine Incentives for Medicaid Patients:
Independent pharmacies have two options to incentivize Medicaid patients who get their first COVID-19 shot at their pharmacy.

1. Pharmacies can receive Visa gift cards directly to give to patients. Pharmacies that have already ordered these gift cards should receive them by the end of this week. If you are an independent pharmacy vaccinator, please fill out this COVID-19 Medicaid Patient Incentive Survey to provide the number of gift cards needed for 30 days. Thank you to those who have already responded with the projected numbers of gift cards needed.
   1. Please ensure that the gift card tracker documents have patient information specific to each managed care plan and that the information is sent securely via email to protect patient data. Vaccinators can use this COVID-19 Vaccine Gift Card Tracker Example. Vaccinators can add all of the information for all MCOs in ONE tracker now and send that tracker to RxCOVIDTracking@CENTENE.COM.
   2. Once you get to 75% of your gift card allocation, please reach out to Attn: Meera Patel-Zook – Gift Card Request at RxCovidTracking@centene.com so that we can ship out an additional allotment to your store.
2. Pharmacies that cannot use Visa gift cards can also share an incentive flyer created specifically for Medicaid patients to receive a gift card online. Please print and share the COVID-19 Incentive Flyer with your patients.

Helpful State Vaccine Resources and Information
The following resources are helpful for vaccinators to contact ODH regarding vaccine shipments:

• COVID Vaccine Provider Call Center: 1-844-963-4829 (The ODH Provider Call Center is open daily from 8:00 am – 7:00 pm Monday through Friday and is no longer open on weekends)
• COVID-19 Vaccine Provider Resources website
• ImpactSIIS Job Aids and Videos
• ImpactSIIS help desk: email impact@odh.ohio.gov for assistance or call 1-866-349-0002.

    OPA is working diligently to facilitate communication between state decision-makers and member pharmacists. OPA has created multiple COVID-19 resources, including a COVID-19 Vaccine Information Webpage, COVID-19 Testing Hub, and COVID-19 Resources Webpage, on the OPA website www.ohiopharmacists.org under the Resources drop-down box. For further questions, please contact Myriam Shaw Ojeda, Fellow in Policy and Innovation, at mshawojeda@ohiopharmacists.org.