Commonwealth of Massachusetts Executive Office of Health and Human Services Office of Medicaid 600 Washington Street Boston, MA 02111 www.mass.gov/masshealth MassHealth All Provider Bulletin 168 October 2007 TO: All Providers Participating in MassHealth FROM: Tom Dehner, Medicaid Director RE: Six-Month Delay for the Requirement for Tamper-Resistant, Written Prescriptions New Effective Date for Requirement In September 2007, MassHealth issued All Provider Bulletin 167 informing MassHealth providers about a new federal law requiring prescriptions for Medicaid-covered outpatient drugs to be tamper- resistant by October 1, 2007. The federal government has delayed this requirement for six months, pursuant to the health care extender bill H.R. 3668, which was signed by President George W. Bush on September 29, 2007. MassHealth will not require tamper-resistant prescriptions until the new federal requirement becomes effective on April 1, 2008. Additional Resources Below are resource sites for information about the tamper-resistant prescription requirement from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). The materials referenced below were published by CMS before health care extender bill H.R. 3688 was signed and therefore contain an October 1, 2007 effective date. Except for the effective date, which is now April 1, 2008, the information about this requirement remains relevant. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Letter to State Medicaid Directors (SMDL #07-012, 8/17/2007). The full letter is available at: http://www.cms.hhs.gov/SMDL/downloads/SMD081707.pdf. CMS Frequently Asked Questions Concerning the Tamper-Resistant Prescription Pad Law http://www.cms.hhs.gov/DeficitReductionAct/Downloads/MIPTRPFAQs91 22007.pdf Questions If you have any questions about the information in this bulletin, please contact MassHealth Customer Service at 1-800-841-2900, e-mail your inquiry to providersupport@mahealth.net, or fax your inquiry to 617-988-8974.