Floridians with prescription meds can get their refills early during state of emergency

Millions of Floridians with vital medication prescriptions can rest assured that they will be able to get necessary refills in the face of a pending tropical system that’s expected to hit the state later this week.

Gov. Ron DeSantis declared a state of emergency for dozens of counties Monday in advance of the tropical system brewing in the Gulf of Mexico and has since expanded the number of counties covered. Now, the Department of Health (DOH) is engaging in coordination with emergency managers across Florida to make sure enough prescriptions will be on hand when the storm is projected to hit Florida on Thursday.

“Under a state of emergency, Floridians are permitted to receive early prescription refills. An early refill may include controlled substances as long as the medical drug is not listed in Schedule II appearing in Chapter 893, Florida Statutes, of the Florida Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act,” a DOH news release said.

The Office of Insurance Regulation advises that all entities that are licensed health insurers, managed care organizations and others that provide medication coverage as part of a policy are obligated to waive time restrictions on prescription medication refills, negating “refill too soon” notices if the prescription is ordered before the mandated time schedule.

The state of emergency medication measures “enable insureds or subscribers to refill prescriptions in advance, if there are authorized refills remaining, and shall authorize payment to pharmacies for at least a 30-day supply of any prescription medication, regardless of the date.”

There are some limitations to the special exemption for prescription orders during a state of emergency, though. They include:

— The person seeking the prescription medication refill must reside in a county that is under a hurricane warning issued by the National Weather Service. The county must be declared to be under a state of emergency in an executive order issued by the Governor. And the county of the person with a prescription must have activated its emergency operations center and its emergency management plan.

— The prescription medication refill is requested within 30 days after the origination date of the conditions stated or until such conditions are terminated by the issuing authority or no longer exist. The time period for the waiver of prescription medication refills may be extended in 15- or 30-day increments by emergency orders issued by the Office of Insurance Regulation.

The Florida counties already under the state of emergency thus far include: Alachua, Baker, Bay, Bradford, Brevard, Calhoun, Charlotte, Citrus, Clay, Collier, Columbia, DeSoto, Dixie, Duval, Escambia, Flagler, Franklin, Gadsden, Gilchrist, Glades, Gulf, Hamilton, Hardee, Hendry, Hernando, Highlands, Hillsborough, Holmes, Jackson, Jefferson, Lafayette, Lake, Lee, Leon, Levy, Liberty, Madison, Manatee, Marion, Monroe, Nassau, Okaloosa, Okeechobee, Orange, Osceola, Pasco, Pinellas, Polk, Putnam, Santa Rosa, Sarasota, Seminole, St. Johns, Sumter, Suwannee, Taylor, Union, Volusia, Wakulla, Walton and Washington counties.