The differences in pharmacists’ prescribing power is the lack of consistency in Provider Status at a federal level.
Pharmacists have provider status in at least 37 states, however over the past several years many state policies have progressed to allow pharmacist provider status.
Having provider status gives pharmacists the incentive to expand their services such as in Idaho, where pharmacists may now prescribe over 20 categories of medications independently of any other healthcare provider. Granting Idaho pharmacists provider status not only allows them to prescribe, but gives them the ability to be reimbursed for their services.
The Social Security Act (SSA) provides a list of providers including physicians, physician’s assistants, certified nurse practitioners, qualified psychologists, clinical social workers, certified nurse midwives, certified registered nurse anesthetists, but not pharmacists.
This is important because the SSA also determines the eligibility for patient care services to be covered by entities such as Medicare Part B. Many state and private health plans generally use Medicare part B as a point of reference for services that they choose to cover.
While pharmacists have the clinical knowledge and expertise to expand their scope of practice, not having provider status limits their ability to be reimbursed from medical services.