# Plain Language Summary: EPCS 2.0 Act

This bill requires health insurance plans to make doctors send prescriptions for certain controlled substances electronically instead of on paper. Starting in 2024, when doctors want to prescribe painkillers, sedatives, stimulants, or other Schedule II through V controlled drugs to their patients, those prescriptions must be transmitted electronically through approved systems—similar to how Medicare already handles e-prescriptions for these medications. This applies to group health plans offered through employers and to both group and individual health insurance policies sold on the market.

The rule has built-in flexibility for situations where electronic prescribing doesn't make sense. Doctors can still use paper, fax, or verbal prescriptions in specific circumstances, like during a power outage, when treating a public health emergency, or when issuing standing orders that don't name a specific patient. The bill also protects pharmacists from having to verify whether a doctor got special permission to use an older method—they can still fill prescriptions however they're submitted as long as they're otherwise legal and valid.

Insurance companies are prohibited from making pharmacies jump through extra hoops to prove compliance or from denying payment based solely on how the prescription was formatted. Patients keep their right to choose which pharmacy fills their prescriptions. The bill essentially modernizes how controlled substance prescriptions move through the insurance system, aiming to reduce fraud and improve tracking while maintaining practical flexibility for real-world situations where electronic systems might temporarily fail or where special circumstances apply.

EPCS 2.0 Act

O'Halleran, Tom

Electronic Prescribing for Controlled Substances Act or the EPCS 2.0 Act This bill generally requires health insurance plans to establish policies requiring in-network providers to transmit prescriptions for controlled substances to pharmacies electronically.