Neb. Rev. Stat. § 44-4607 — NE Code / Chapter 44 / Section 44-4607
View Statute 44-4607
Status: in_force

(1) Unless otherwise prohibited by federal law, an auditing entity conducting a pharmacy audit shall:

(a) Give any pharmacy notice fifteen business days prior to conducting an initial onsite audit;

(b) For any audit that involves clinical or professional judgment, conduct such audit by or in consultation with a pharmacist; and

(c) Audit each pharmacy under the same standards and parameters as other similarly situated pharmacies.

(2) Unless otherwise prohibited by federal law, for any pharmacy audit conducted by an auditing entity:

(a) The period covered by the audit shall not exceed twenty-four months from the date that the claim was submitted to the auditing entity, unless a longer period is required under state or federal law;

(b) If an auditing entity uses random sampling as a method for selecting a set of claims for examination, the sample size shall be appropriate for a statistically reliable sample;

(c) The auditing entity shall provide the pharmacy a masked list containing any prescription number or date range that the auditing entity is seeking to audit;

(d) No onsite audit shall take place during the first five business days of the month without the consent of the pharmacy;

(e) No auditor shall enter the area of any pharmacy where patient-specific information is available without being escorted by an employee of the pharmacy and, to the extent possible, each auditor shall remain out of the sight and hearing range of any pharmacy customer;

(f) No recoupment shall be deducted from or applied against a future remittance until after the appeal process is complete and both parties receive the results of the final audit;

(g) No pharmacy benefit manager shall require information to be written on a prescription unless such information is required to be written on the prescription by state or federal law;

(h) Recoupment may be assessed for information not written on a prescription if:

(i)(A) Such information is required in the provider manual; or

(B) The information is required by the federal Food and Drug Administration or the drug manufacturer's product safety program; and

(ii) The information required under subdivision (i)(A) or (B) of this subdivision (h) is not readily available for the auditing entity at the time of the audit; and

(i) No auditing entity or agent shall receive payment based on a percentage of any recoupment.

(3) For recoupment under the Pharmacy Benefit Manager Licensure and Regulation Act, the auditing entity shall:

(a) Include consumer-oriented parameters based on manufacturer listings in the audit parameters;

(b) Consider the pharmacy's usual and customary price for a compounded medication as the reimbursable cost, unless the pricing method is outlined in the pharmacy provider contract;

(c) Base a finding of overpayment or underpayment on the actual overpayment or underpayment and not a projection that relies on the number of patients served who have a similar diagnosis, the number of similar orders, or the number of refills for similar drugs;

(d) Not use extrapolation to calculate the recoupment or penalties unless required by state or federal law;

(e) Not include a dispensing fee in the calculation of an overpayment, unless a prescription was not actually dispensed, the prescriber denied authorization, the prescription dispensed was a medication error by the pharmacy, or the identified overpayment is solely based on an extra dispensing fee;

(f) Not consider as fraud any clerical or record-keeping error, such as a typographical error, scrivener's error, or computer error regarding a required document or record. Such error may be subject to recoupment;

(g) Not assess any recoupment in the case of an error that has no actual financial harm to the covered person or health benefit plan. An error that is the result of the pharmacy failing to comply with a formal corrective action plan may be subject to recoupment; and

(h) Not allow interest to accrue during the audit period for either party, beginning with the notice of the audit and ending with the final audit report.

(4)(a) To validate a pharmacy record and the delivery of a pharmacy service, the pharmacy may use an authentic and verifiable statement or record, including a medication administration record of a nursing home, assisted-living facility, hospital, physician, or other authorized practitioner or an additional audit documentation parameter located in the provider manual.

(b) Any legal prescription that meets the requirements in this section may be used to validate a claim in connection with a prescription, refill, or change in a prescription, including a medication administration record, fax, e-prescription, or documented telephone call from the prescriber to the prescriber's agent.

(5) The auditing entity conducting the audit shall establish a written appeal process which shall include procedures for appealing both a preliminary audit report and a final audit report.

(6)(a) A preliminary audit report shall be delivered to the pharmacy within one hundred twenty days after the conclusion of the audit.

(b) A pharmacy shall be allowed at least thirty days following receipt of a preliminary audit report to provide documentation to address any discrepancy found in the audit.

(c) A final audit report shall be delivered to the pharmacy within one hundred twenty days after receipt of the preliminary audit report or the appeal process has been exhausted, whichever is later.

(d) An auditing entity shall remit any money due to a pharmacy or pharmacist as the result of an underpayment of a claim within forty-five days after the appeal process has been exhausted and the final audit report has been issued.

(7) Where contractually required, an auditing entity shall provide a copy to the plan sponsor of any of the plan sponsor's claims that were included in the audit, and any recouped money shall be returned to the health benefit plan or plan sponsor.

(8) This section does not apply to any investigative audit that involves suspected fraud, willful misrepresentation, or abuse, or any audit completed by a state-funded health care program.

Laws 2022, LB767, § 7.