DWC Issues Notice of 2nd 15-Day Public Comment Period for Rulemaking Action to Adopt Revisions to the Official Medical Fee Schedule (Pharmaceuticals)

NEWSLINE

The Division of Workers' Compensation (DWC) has issued a notice of modification to text of proposed amendments to the Official Medical Fee Schedule provisions relating to pharmaceuticals dispensed to injured workers. DWC has reviewed public comments submitted during the 1st 15-day comment period and has made modifications to the proposal in light of comments received and to clarify the provisions of the proposed amendments.

Some of the changes proposed in the modified regulations include:

• Modifying the provisions relating to the fee for unfinished drug products used in compounded drugs to eliminate the use of "documented paid cost" as the pricing benchmark
• Modifying the proposal to specify that the fee for drug products used in compounded drugs be based upon the same Medi-Cal formula applied to other drugs
• Revising the sample Pharmaceutical Fee Data File to include the unfinished bulk pharmaceutical drug products that are used in compounded drugs, such as active pharmaceutical ingredients and excipients
• Modifying regulation text to make technical corrections and to improve clarity of the provisions.

The Notice of Modification to Text of Proposed Regulations, the text of the modified regulations, a revised sample Pharmaceutical Fee Data File and information on how to submit comments can be found on the DWC rulemaking page. The comment period will close at 11:59 p.m. on October 23, 2024.