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Read. Follow. Verify.North Carolina Bill Allows Pharmacists to Test and Treat Certain Illnesses and Mandates Equal Insurance Coverage
Last action · April 3, 2025: Ref to the Com on Health, if favorable, Appropriations, if favorable, Rules, Calendar, and Operations of the House (House action)Sponsors: Cody Huneycutt and 1 other
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What This Bill Would Do
Pharmacists in North Carolina are newly authorized to order and perform s and treat conditions such as influenza, COVID-19, and strep throat using approved medications under statewide protocols, effective October 1, 2025. Additionally, health benefit plans and insurers are required to provide fair and equitable coverage for healthcare services performed by pharmacists within their scope of practice if those services would be covered when performed by other healthcare providers.
Expands direct healthcare access for patients by allowing local pharmacies to diagnose and treat common illnesses without a prior doctor's visit, while requiring health insurance plans to reimburse pharmacists on the same terms as other medical professionals.
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 are granted new authority to order and perform CLIA-waived tests and treat specific illnesses, and are guaranteed fair reimbursement for equivalent healthcare services.
Insurers and Health Benefit Plans
Insurers must cover healthcare services provided by pharmacists under the same conditions as other healthcare providers and accept delegated credentialing agreements.
Patients
Patients gain direct access to testing and treatment for common illnesses like COVID-19 and influenza at local pharmacies with insurance coverage.
Key Facts
- Pharmacists are authorized to order and perform CLIA-waived tests to assist with clinical decision-making and treat influenza, COVID-19, pharyngitis caused by group A streptococcus, and other screened health conditions.
- Pharmacists are explicitly prohibited from treating any health condition under the new testing provisions using controlled substances classified in Schedules I through IV.
- Health benefit plans offered by insurers in North Carolina must cover healthcare services provided by a pharmacist if performed within their licensed lawful scope of practice and covered if performed by another provider.
- Insurers that delegate credentialing agreements for pharmacists to a contracted healthcare facility must accept that credentialing for all pharmacists employed by or contracted with those facilities.
Show all 7 facts
- Third-party administrators and pharmacy benefits managers are made subject to all statutory requirements relating to the coverage of prescription drugs and pharmacy services that apply to insurers.
- The State Health Director, in consultation with the North Carolina Board of Pharmacy and the North Carolina Medical Board, must develop statewide protocols including patient parameters necessitating referral to primary, urgent, or emergency care.
- The provisions regarding pharmacist testing, treatment, and insurance coverage become effective on October 1, 2025.
Frequently Asked Questions
What specific illnesses can pharmacists test and treat under this bill?
Will insurance plans be required to pay for services rendered by a pharmacist?
Can pharmacists prescribe controlled substances under these new testing and treatment rules?
What else do you want to know?
News Coverage
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Votes, people, money & the original sourceWhere This Stands
Currently in committee. The next step in the legislative lifecycle is Floor Vote.
Procedural history
3 actions- Apr 3, 2025HouseRef to the Com on Health, if favorable, Appropriations, if favorable, Rules, Calendar, and Operations of the House
- Apr 3, 2025HousePassed 1st Reading
- Apr 2, 2025HouseIntroducedFiled
Version history
Only one version on file - nothing to compare yet. As later stages (committee substitute, engrossed, enrolled) are captured, the redline appears here.
View official text →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
Connected Entities
Sources
www.ncleg.gov
Analysis Score
0–100- Significance75How much this matters to a regular citizen
- Controversy30Intensity of disagreement among stakeholders
- Entertainment5Compellingness for a non-policy-wonk reader
- Buzz40Current news / social attention level
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