68-953. Preferred drug list; department; establish and maintain; pharmaceutical and therapeutics committee; members; expenses.

(1) No later than July 1, 2010, the department shall establish and maintain a preferred drug list for the medical assistance program. The department shall establish a pharmaceutical and therapeutics committee to advise the department on all matters relating to the establishment and maintenance of such list.

(2) The pharmaceutical and therapeutics committee shall include at least fifteen but no more than twenty members. The committee shall consist of at least (a) eight physicians, (b) four pharmacists, (c) a university professor of pharmacy or a person with a doctoral degree in pharmacology, and (d) two public members. No more than twenty-five percent of the committee shall be state employees.

(3) The physician members of the committee, so far as practicable, shall include physicians practicing in the areas of (a) family medicine, (b) internal medicine, (c) pediatrics, (d) cardiology, (e) psychiatry or neurology, (f) obstetrics or gynecology, (g) endocrinology, and (h) oncology.

(4) Members of the committee shall submit conflict of interest disclosure statements to the department and shall have an ongoing duty to disclose conflicts of interest not included in the original disclosure.

(5) The committee shall elect a chairperson and a vice-chairperson from among its members. Members of the committee shall be reimbursed for their actual and necessary expenses as provided in sections 81-1174 to 81-1177.

(6) The department, in consultation with the committee, shall adopt and publish policies and procedures relating to the preferred drug list, including (a) guidelines for the presentation and review of drugs for inclusion on the preferred drug list, (b) the manner and frequency of audits of the preferred drug list for appropriateness of patient care and cost effectiveness, (c) an appeals process for the resolution of disputes, and (d) such other policies and procedures as the department deems necessary and appropriate.

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