Kentucky will be the latest state to implement the Official Disability Guidelines formulary for injured workers, according to an announcement made Monday by the Kentucky Labor Cabinet, Department of Workers’ Claims.
ODG was developed by Austin, Texas-based MCG Health LLC and is the most common formulary used across the states — more than a dozen have implemented the evidence-based drug list, according to the company.
The adoption of ODG follows Kentucky’s passage of H.B. 2 in 2018 that mandated a drug formulary for workers compensation. ODG, like most formularies, puts drugs in two categories: drugs that are free to prescribe and those that need preauthorization. Most opioids will require preauthorization under ODG.
The formulary will take effect on July 1 for workers injured on or after Jan. 1. For claims in which the date of injury was before 2019, the formulary will be effective July 1 for a prescription that is not a refill and on Jan. 1, 2020, for a refill prescription of a drug initially prescribed prior to July 1, 2019, according to the announcement.
The National Council of Insurance Legislators is in the early planning stages of possibly creating a model law on workers compensation drug formularies, the organization’s spokesman confirmed on Friday.