Minnesota Board of Pharmacy - Minnesota State Legislature

CFR 445.412, “Verification of provider licenses”:
The State Medicaid agency must
(a) Have a method for verifying that any provider purporting to be licensed in
accordance with the laws of any State is licensed by such State
(b) Confirm that the provider’s license has not expired and that there are no current
limitations on the provider’s license
Per these requirements, a health care provider that wishes to participate in Medicaid must be licensed
by the state. If the boards that license health care providers that participate in Medicaid are abolished
and some other provision is not made for their licensure, those providers will not be able to participate
in Medicaid. Similar provisions apply for Medicare. Consequently, senior citizens, disabled individuals
and many children – who are the primary enrollees in Medicare and Medicaid – would have greatly
reduced access to health care services.
The Board was recently awarded a federal grant of approximately $375,000 by the U.S. Department
of Justice, Bureau of Justice Assistance. The purpose of the grant is to make enhancements to the
Minnesota Prescription Monitoring Program, which was described in detail above. If the Board were
abolished the state would lose that grant money – unless operation of the PMP was transferred to
another agency. Even if the PMP were transferred, that grant money might be in jeopardy because it
was specifically awarded to the Board and might not be transferable to another state agency.
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