On July 15, 2010, the Vendor Drug Program increased the dispensing life of a Medicaid prescription from six months to one year for non-controlled substances. This allows a maximum of up to 11 refills within a one-year period.
Any prescription written prior to July 15, 2010, must still comply with the Vendor Drug rules in effect at that time:
· Prescriptions are valid for six months or up to five refills, even if the prescriber originally wrote the prescription for 11 refills.
· Accordingly a new prescription from the prescriber is needed for any prescription over six months old or after five refills have been dispensed.
· Inaccurate reporting of the authorized refill number runs the risk of an audit exception and causes erroneous data on reports.
New prescriptions written after July 15, 2010, are valid for one year and up to 11 refills if authorized by the prescriber.