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Schedule II Prescriptive Authority

BACKGROUND

The state of Texas currently limits the prescribing of Schedule II medications by a PA to hospice and inpatient care settings, leaving out the ability for PAs to treat patients’ pain in all other settings. This disproportionately affects PAs in surgery and pain management who are unable to care for patients’ pain, chained by these outdated regulations. Further, Schedule II medications can only be filled at inpatient pharmacies, limiting the number of places where a patient can fill their prescription. These unnecessary regulations have failed to put the patient first, limiting access to care and creating barriers to optimal and timely treatment. As was demonstrated during the height of COVID-19, PAs in Texas are a solution to the problem, capable of and ready to provide quality care to patients in need. This bill has been introduced over the past couple of legislative sessions and most recently passed the House during both the 87th & 86th Legislative Session

THE ASK

Expand Schedule II authority to all PAs by amending Sections 157.0511(a) and (b) of the Occupations Code, to allow a physician to delegate the prescribing or order of a Schedule II in all healthcare settings.

RATIONALE

When providing care for patients, the lack of full prescriptive authority in outpatient settings leads to unnecessary care delays and additional administrative burdens for clinical and operational care teams.

PREVIOUS BILLS TEXAS INTRODUCED

87(R) - HB 1524; 86(R) - HB 2250; 86(R) - SB 1308; 85(R) - HB 2548

OTHER STATES WITH SIMILAR LAWS

AL, AK, AZ, CA, CO, CT, DE, DC, HI, ID, IL, IN, IA, KS, LA, ME, MD, MA, MI, MN, MS, MT, NE, NV, NH, NJ, NM*, NY, NC, ND, OH*, OR, PA, RI, SD, TN, UT, VT, VA, WA, WI, WY

*Designates states with a formulary restriction on Schedule II Medications​

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