By Van de Putte                                      H.C.R. No. 332

         75R17502 SMZ-D                           

                             HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION

 1-1           WHEREAS, Virtually all health benefit plans that offer

 1-2     prescription drug coverage issue pharmacy benefit cards to their

 1-3     enrollees to help them understand their coverage while assisting

 1-4     the pharmacist in delivering the appropriate medication with

 1-5     minimum delay or confusion; and

 1-6           WHEREAS, Information regarding a patient's prescription

 1-7     coverage and copayment and other medical information can be

 1-8     received by the pharmacist only if basic information relating to

 1-9     the patient's coverage is correct and available for confirmation

1-10     from the health benefit plan; and

1-11           WHEREAS, Despite the effort to increase the speed and

1-12     efficiency of processing prescription drug claims electronically

1-13     with a pharmacy benefit card, valuable time and money is wasted

1-14     because of the lack of rigorous standards governing the type of

1-15     information a benefit card should include; and

1-16           WHEREAS, Many pharmacists, deeply concerned for their

1-17     patients' health and welfare, diligently spend extra hours

1-18     communicating with representatives from health benefit plans to

1-19     secure basic information that should be included on the benefit

1-20     card in order to process routine insurance claims, thereby

1-21     jeopardizing personal and business relations with their customers;

1-22     and

1-23           WHEREAS, By February 1998, the National Council on

1-24     Prescription Drug Programs (NCPDP) will have developed uniform

 2-1     standards for prescription benefit cards that will make the

 2-2     exchange of information between the coverage provider, the

 2-3     pharmacist, and the patient more accurate and efficient; and

 2-4           WHEREAS, A Texas State Board of Pharmacy task force,

 2-5     consisting of representatives from the Texas State Board of

 2-6     Pharmacy, Texas Department of Insurance, health maintenance

 2-7     organizations, prescription benefit management companies, and

 2-8     pharmacists, recommends the adoption of the NCPDP standards; now,

 2-9     therefore, be it

2-10           RESOLVED, That the 75th Legislature of the State of Texas

2-11     hereby direct the Texas Department of Insurance to promulgate rules

2-12     to ensure uniform compliance with the standards developed by the

2-13     National Council on Prescription Drug Programs relating to pharmacy

2-14     benefit cards and pharmacy software vendors operating in Texas;

2-15     and, be it further

2-16           RESOLVED, That the secretary of state forward an official

2-17     copy of this resolution to the commissioner of the Texas Department

2-18     of Insurance.