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Read. Follow. Verify.Ohio authorizes pharmacists to screen, test, and treat patients for influenza, strep throat, and COVID-19
Last action · June 16, 2026: IntroducedSponsors: Mark Romanchuk and 2 others
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What This Bill Would Do
The Ohio General Assembly passed Senate Bill 230, which authorizes licensed pharmacists to screen, order and administer diagnostic tests, evaluate results, and provide treatment for influenza, pharyngitis, and COVID-19 for individuals aged five and older. The measure also mandates that s, sickness and accident insurers, public employee benefit plans, and the state medicaid program provide payment or reimbursement to pharmacists for these authorized health care services in the same manner as other providers.
Patients gain direct access to diagnostic testing and treatment for common respiratory illnesses at local pharmacies, while health insurers and state programs are legally required to reimburse pharmacists for these services at parity with other health care providers.
Who It Would Affect
Groups the bill's text would affect if enacted, as described in the record. Being affected is not a position for or against it.
Pharmacists
Pharmacists gain statutory authority to screen, test, and treat patients for specific respiratory conditions and are guaranteed equivalent insurance reimbursement for those services.
Health Insuring Corporations and Insurers
Insurers and health insuring corporations are required to provide payment or reimbursement to pharmacists for authorized health care services on par with other health care providers.
Medicaid Recipients
Medicaid recipients become eligible to receive covered pharmacist-provided testing and treatment services through the state medicaid program.
Key Facts
You don't have to trust us. Each fact below is taken straight from the official document - click any one to see the exact passage, highlighted in the original.
Frequently Asked Questions
What specific health conditions can pharmacists test and treat under this bill?
Are health insurance companies required to pay pharmacists for these services?
Can pharmacists delegate testing tasks to pharmacy technicians?
What else do you want to know?
News Coverage
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Votes, people, money & the original sourceWhere This Stands
Currently passed chamber. The next step in the legislative lifecycle is Law.
Procedural history
5 actions- Jun 16, 2026HouseIntroducedIntroduced
- Jun 10, 2026SenateFloorPassed
- Jun 10, 2026SenateCommitteeReported - Substitute (Health)
- Oct 1, 2025SenateCommitteeReferred to Health
- Jul 7, 2025SenateIntroducedIntroduced
Version history & redline
3 versions on fileVoting Record
Favorable Passage
Total
33
- Yes
- 33
- No
- 0
- Present
- 0
- Not voting
- 0
- Abstain
- 0
How they voted (11)
Show 1 earlier roll call
Favorable Passage
Total
33
- Yes
- 33
- No
- 0
- Present
- 0
- Not voting
- 0
- Abstain
- 0
Lobbying Activity
No state lobbying filings in our records match this bill. Federal lobbying reports (LDA) cover Congress, so they are not listed on state bills.
Full breakdown
Who this bill affects and the strongest case for and against it, written only from the bill’s own text.
Sponsors
Discoveries
Patterns POLISCOPE noticed across the record. These are observations to investigate, not conclusions.
Expansion of Pharmacist Scope of Practice
The legislation shifts diagnostic and treatment authority for specific respiratory illnesses directly to community pharmacists backed by mandatory insurer parity.
Connected Entities
Sources
www.legislature.ohio.gov
Analysis Score
0–100- Significance75How much this matters to a regular citizen
- Controversy25Intensity of disagreement among stakeholders
- Entertainment5Compellingness for a non-policy-wonk reader
- Buzz40Current news / social attention level
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