ASHP Advocacy Contributes to CMS Shift on NDC Reporting Requirement
10/27/2009
The settlement of an ASHP-supported lawsuit against the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) may relieve hospitals that bill medications at their “purchasing costs” of the requirement to report National Drug Code (NDC) numbers when submitting Medicaid claims.
Under the settlement agreement with the Safety Net Hospitals for Pharmaceutical Access (SNHPA) CMS will clarify its policy requiring states to collect NDC numbers. State Medicaid agencies will now be able to exempt hospitals that bill Medicaid-covered outpatient drugs at the hospital’s purchasing costs. The exemption will be granted at the state’s discretion.
The lawsuit was part of a nearly three year effort to secure an exemption from the reporting requirement for outpatient pharmacy departments by ASHP and other organizations. Data from an ASHP survey demonstrating the regulation’s impact on hospitals played a key role in the lawsuit, which the Society supported financially. ASHP also held meetings with CMS officials and congressional staffers and worked with its state affiliates to delay implementation of the regulation.
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