The Colorado Springs Gazette final

• Legislature approves prescription “vending machines.”

BY HANNAH METZGER hannah.metzger@coloradopolitics.com

Picking up prescription medications could soon be as easy as buying a candy bar in Colorado, thanks to a bill passed by the Legislature on Wednesday.

House Bill 1195 would allow pharmacies to use automated “vending machines” to dispense prescription medications to patients. The machines could be put in hospitals, health clinics or retail pharmacies, and could operate outside of regular pharmacy hours so patients have more time to pick up their medications.

The Senate unanimously passed the bill Wednesday, after the House’s 58-4 approval this month. Now, the bill just needs the governor’s signature to become law.

“It’s the future,” said bill sponsor Sen. Joann Ginal, D-fort Collins. “This bill will make it easier for Coloradans to get medications they need by removing unnecessary roadblocks.”

Ginal said the machines would improve access to health care for Coloradans with long or untraditional working hours whose work schedules don’t align with a pharmacy’s hours of operation. The machines could also help patients in rural or underserved areas without nearby pharmacies.

Under the bill, patients would need to provide their prescription and interact virtually with a pharmacist via a video call on the machine to pick up their medication. The medications would be precounted and stocked in the machine, which would be monitored at all times.

The machines could dispense any medications, including opioids.

Though HB 1195 received broad bipartisan support and is backed by groups including Kaiser Permanente and the Colorado Retail Council, not everyone in the pharmaceutical industry is happy with the bill. During a committee hearing, Rocky Ford pharmacist Dr. Ky Davis said he is worried the machines could end up reducing access to pharmacy services that can’t be automated, such as vaccines.

“It enables pharmacies to decrease the hours that they have pharmacists on staff. That decreases the patients’ level of care,” said Davis, representing the Independent Pharmacy Cooperative and Rx Plus Pharmacies. “It incentivizes a pharmacy to close on Fridays and let the machine take over.”

Davis said the bill could send pharmacy jobs out of state as it doesn’t specify that the virtual pharmacist working through the machine needs to be in Colorado. He also said the machines will likely be too expensive for mom-andpop pharmacies to buy, questioning how much they would expand access in rural areas.

Only four lawmakers ended up voting against the bill, all of whom were Republicans in the House: Reps. Scott Bottoms, Brandi Bradley, Ken degraaf and Stephanie Luck. None explained their “no” votes.

HB 1195’s Republican sponsor, Sen. Barbara Kirkmeyer of Brighton, defended the bill, saying improvement to accessing health care is worth pursuing.

“If we can just have an automated pharmacy dispensing system even in hospitals in rural Colorado, that would make a huge different to access,” Kirkmeyer said. “Even if it only happens in the urban parts of our state ... that still makes it better for working folks.”

“We need to work to remove all barriers to accessing care and we need to do so quickly,” she added.

Automated prescription dispensing systems are allowed in Arizona, California, Florida, Idaho, Louisiana, Missouri and Texas, according to the health care technology company Medifriendrx.

HB 1195 next will be sent back to the House to approve minor changes made by the Senate before it sent to Gov. Jared Polis. If signed, it will take effect in August.

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2023-03-30T07:00:00.0000000Z

2023-03-30T07:00:00.0000000Z

https://daily.gazette.com/article/281676849171131

The Gazette, Colorado Springs