Senator CROMER proposed the following amendment (628R005.SP.RWC):

Amend the bill, as and if amended, by striking Section 40-43-230(A) and inserting:

/ Section 40-43-230.(A) A person licensed under the South Carolina Pharmacy Practice Act who is acting in good faith and exercising reasonable care as a pharmacist and who is employed by a hospital or a resident pharmacy that is permitted by this State may dispense a self-administered hormonal contraceptive or administer an injectable hormonal contraceptive pursuant to a standing prescription drug order by a prescriber to a patient who is:

(1) eighteen years of age or older; or

(2) under eighteen years of age if the person has evidence of a previous prescription from a practitioner for a self-administered hormonal contraceptive or an injectable hormonal contraceptive. /

Amend the bill further, as and if amended, by adding an appropriately lettered new subsection to Section 40-43-240 to read:

/ ( ) Health insurers and the State Health Plan must provide coverage for services provided under this chapter and reimburse providers on the same basis and at the same payment rate that would apply if the services had been rendered by a physician. /

Amend the bill further, as and if amended, by striking Section 40-43-250 and inserting:

/ Section 40-43-250.(A) Prior to dispensing self-administered hormonal contraceptives or administering injectable hormonal contraceptives pursuant to Section 40-43-240, a pharmacist must have completed a certificate program that has been developed by the deans of the pharmacy schools in this State, as specified in the joint protocol, that is program-specific to self-administered hormonal contraceptives or injectable hormonal contraceptives, that includes the application of the United States Medical Eligibility Criteria for Contraceptive Use, and that includes other Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidance on contraception. To maintain eligibility, a pharmacist must complete at least three hours of continuing education per year that is offered by an entity approved by the Board of Medical Examiners and the Board of Pharmacy.

(B) An equivalent, curriculum-based training program completed on or after January 2021 in an accredited South Carolina pharmacy school satisfies the initial education requirement. /