Definitions
| Pharmacy | A licensed place where medicinal drugs are sold and dispensed. |
|---|---|
| Grant recipient | A pharmacy that meets eligibility requirements and is awarded a hardship grant to purchase prescription drug labeling accessibility equipment. |
| Accessible prescription label | Any format of prescription label, including but not limited to electronic labels, Braille, large print, or prescription readers, that comply with U.S. Access Board best practices. |
| Program | The Prescription Accessibility Grant Program is administered by CDPHE. |
Background
The Colorado General Assembly passed House Bill 24-1115 in 2024. The bill requires pharmacies to provide a method to access prescription drug label information for patients who notify a pharmacy of difficulty seeing or reading standard printed labels on a prescription drug container. Pharmacies must, upon request, provide patients (or their caretakers), with one of the following at no cost:
- An electronic label affixed to the prescription drug container that transmits prescription drug label information, directions, and written instructions to a patient’s external accessible device, including a patient’s compatible prescription drug reader.
- A prescription drug label in braille or large print.
- A prescription drug reader.
- Any other method included in the best practices for access to prescription drug labeling information by the United States Access Board, or its successor organization.
The bill establishes a 28-day grace period for pharmacies to acquire accessibility labeling
equipment after receiving a request from a patient or patient’s caretaker. Pharmacies must make good faith efforts to inform the public that prescription drug label information is available in accessible formats.
Additionally, the bill creates the Prescription Accessibility Grant Program in the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) to award hardship grants to pharmacies for the acquisition of labeling equipment to comply with the new accessibility requirements.
Program rules
Goals and outcomes
This grant program aims to facilitate prescription accessibility to the visually impaired by awarding hardship grants to pharmacies for purchasing equipment to create accessible prescription labels.
The anticipated outcomes of the grant program are:
- Improved access to prescription drug information for patients with difficulty seeing or reading standard printed labels.
- Reduced financial burden on pharmacies to meet accessibility requirements.
About the Public Feedback Period
The Prescription Accessibility Grant Program will conduct a four-week public feedback period starting November 7, 2024 and ending December 5, 2024. The purpose of the feedback period is to collect feedback from the public on the proposed Prescription Accessibility Grant Program rules and processes before the program begins accepting applications and distributing grants.
The program will not respond directly to individual feedback submissions but will post a summary of all feedback received and any changes to the program rules or process to this website by December 13, 2024.
The program will review and consider all feedback before finalizing the program rules and opening the application process.
About the Grant Opportunity
The Prescription Accessibility Grant Program will distribute approximately $65,000 to grant recipients on a first-come, first-served basis. The maximum grant award is $1,500 per grant recipient.
Grant funds must be used to purchase equipment used to create accessible prescription labels.
Eligibility for this funding is as follows:
- Pharmacies registered and based in Colorado.
- Independent pharmacies
- An 'independent pharmacy’ is defined as a prescription drug outlet privately owned by at least one licensed pharmacist with no ownership interest by or affiliation with a chain or publicly owned pharmacy.
- Ineligible entities
- Publicly traded pharmacies (Walgreens, CVS, etc) are not eligible for this funding opportunity.
Application deadline
The deadline to apply is October 1, 2025. However, as grants will be awarded to eligible recipients on a first-come, first-served basis, pharmacies are highly encouraged to apply as soon as possible.
About the Grant Application
Following a four-week public feedback period, the program will post the Prescription Accessibility Grant Program Application to this website, begin reviewing applications, and distribute grants.
This is a reimbursement-based grant program. Pharmacies should only apply for reimbursement after purchasing equipment to create accessible prescription labels.
The application is a Google Form, and will collect the following information from applicants:
- Confirmation of eligibility
- Pharmacy information
- Name
- Address
- Phone number
- Applicant contact information
- Name
- Email address
- Description of and quantity of equipment purchased
- Completed invoice (template available to download from the application)
- Completed W-9 (template available to download from the application)
- Receipt (proof of purchase)
The program will review applications on a rolling basis and award grants to eligible recipients on a first-come, first-served basis.
Pharmacies may submit applications for reimbursement until all funds are exhausted and no later than October 1, 2025.