Indiana Workers’ Comp Formulary Bill Sent to Governor

The Indiana General Assembly passed legislation that adopts a drug formulary for the state’s workers’ compensation system. SB 369 was sent to Gov. Gov. Eric Holcomb for his signature on March 21.

The Property Casualty Insurers Association of America (PCI) has urged the governor to sign the bill.

“Evidence-based pharmaceutical formularies such as included in SB 369 can help to ensure timely delivery of appropriate medical care to injured workers to achieve optimum health and return-to-work outcomes,” Hilary Segura, counsel for PCI, said in the insurance trade group’s announcement.

SB 369 prohibits workers’ compensation and occupational disease compensation reimbursement for drugs specified as “not recommended” (N) in the Official Disability Guidelines (ODG) Workers’ Compensation Drug Formulary.

The bill states, however, that a prescribing physician may request to prescribe an “N” drug and if the employer approves the request, the “N” drug may be prescribed.