A new state law will make it easier to get prescription flu medications in North Carolina, part of a series of healthcare regulations recently signed into law.
State lawmakers unanimously approved a wide-ranging bill designed to improve healthcare access, and Gov. Josh Stein signed the measure into law this month.
Sen. Benton Sawrey, R-Johnston, was one of the bill's sponsors. He says one of the biggest changes in the legislation will allow pharmacists to administer tests for the flu.
"Now, rather than having to wait in line at urgent care or wait several days to go see your primary care doctor, you'll have the option to go directly to your pharmacist, get that quick test and get the Tamiflu ... saving you time, saving you money and saving you trips to different medical professionals," he told the WUNC Politics Podcast.
The bill also includes a medical licensing agreement with other states. That would allow more doctors to practice across state lines. Sawrey says it will help address a shortage of medical providers in some parts of the state.
"I think this will have a big impact in our workforce and ability to provide some care," he said. "The second piece of that was an international physician licensure pact, which is something that I worked on last session as well. We are now going to be the 21st state in the nation that has enacted some form of licensing pathway for international doctors."
Another provision in the bill will protect medical providers from surgical smoke produced by hospital equipment. That can result in medical providers “inhaling up to the equivalent of 25 cigarettes worth of smoke during the course of a single surgery procedure,” Sawrey said.
House Bill 67 was one of several noteworthy bills that made it across the finish line before lawmakers left for their summer break. Because they were complicated and non-controversial, they got overshadowed by bills on hot topics like DEI and LGBTQ issues.
Sawrey was also the sponsor for another one, known as the SCRIPT Act, which he says was "the most important piece of legislation to come through the North Carolina General Assembly this session."
That bill seeks to reduce prescription drug costs through price transparency and address pharmacy “deserts" by leveling the playing field for independent pharmacies that often serve rural communities.
Sawrey said the goal is to regulate pharmacy benefit managers, or PBMs, which function as a middleman between insurance companies, drug manufacturers and pharmacies.
"The transparency piece takes a look at what are they doing? What are their business practices? How are they treating one set of pharmacies versus another?" Sawrey said.
In the coming months, the legislature will tackle another major healthcare issue: How to address the changes to Medicaid in the megabill recently signed by President Donald Trump. Sawrey says lawmakers are still reviewing the potential impact on the state budget.
"With the changes being made, it's going to result in significant changes to how North Carolina runs this program. "We want to do everything we can to make sure that the people that are truly deserving, that need that safety net, are getting services. And I think we're going to have to take a step back and make sure that we allocate the resources we have efficiently."
The legislature hasn't yet passed a budget, and Sawrey says that delay could provide some funding flexibility.
