As you know, the new federal security prescription rules take effect October 1. The new law requires most Medi-Cal prescriptions to be written on tamper proof pads. There are, however, a number of exemptions to this rule.

Security prescriptions are not required for:

• Prescriptions paid for by a managed care entity
• Prescriptions provided in nursing homes and some other institutional settings
• Phoned, faxed, or electronically transmitted prescriptions

CMA has also received a number of questions about writing prescription for dual-eligible (Medicare and Medi-Cal) patients. Because the vast majority of dual eligible patients receive their prescription drugs through the Medicare Part D program, prescriptions for these patients are not subject to the federal security prescription requirement.

For more information on this new law, see CMA ON-CALL documents #0510, Drug Prescribing (Not Schedule II-V Drugs) and #0509, Controlled Substance Prescribing. ON-CALL documents are free to members at the members-only website. Nonmembers can purchase ON-CALL documents for $2 per page in the CMA Bookstore.

To help ease the burden of this new requirement, especially for physicians with a high volume of Medi-Cal patients, CMA has negotiated a 20 percent member discount on tamper-proof pads and printer paper that meet both federal and state security prescription requirements.

This special discount from CMA's security prescription partner RxSecurity is available through Wednesday, November 7.

Place your order online at http://www.rxsecurity.com/cma.php or by phone at 800/667-9723.

Contact: Elizabeth McNeil, 415/882-3376 or emcneil@cmanet.org.