Maine To Help On Prescription Drugs

Maine's governor has signed a bill Friday that allows the state to negotiate lower prices on prescription drugs for its 300,000 residents without health insurance.

"We have taken on a national problem. We have taken it on in a creative and responsible way," Gov. Angus King told dozens of lawmakers who crammed into his office for the signing Thursday, a few hours before the Legislature adjourned for the year.

Following overwhelming votes of approval in the state House and Senate the day before, King signed the "Maine R-X" program after he had threatened to veto an earlier version of the legislation.

Under the measure the state, as a big buyer, would seek to obtain substantial discounts from suppliers similar to those provided to other large purchasers and pass on those savings to consumers.

If negotiations with manufacturers fail to reduce prices significantly, price controls could still be imposed three years from now.

The Senate backed the measure 30-0 and the House passed it with a 128-to-11 margin.

The earlier version of the bill would have created a state board to impose maximum prices on prescription drugs that would be tied to pricing levels in Canada.

But King threatened to strike that version, raising questions about the constitutionality of linking Maine prices to an out-of-state standard. The governor, a political independent, had also expressed concern about the practicality of price-setting.

Senate Majority Leader Chellie Pingree, a Democrat, predicted that having the state serve as a pharmaceutical benefit manager for about 325,000 Maine residents without insurance that covers drugs would avoid the necessity of imposing limits on prices.

The final version dropped reference to Canadian prices and put off decisions on price controls that originally were scheduled for 2001.

Proponents say the new measure could win price discounts of between 12 percent and 15 percent by Jan. 1. They predict discounts would increase over time as more favorable rebate arrangements were arranged with manufacturers.

Democratic House Speaker Steven Rowe said all Maine citizens should be able to share in savings already available for people in health maintenance organizations or on Medicaid.

"We're going to use our purchasing power," Rowe said.

Some lawmakers criticized as vague or coercive an anti-profiteering section of the legislation, which could be used to assess civil penalties of up to $100,000 for drug manufacturers or distributors who charge what is judged to be an excessive price or who restrict supplies in the state.

Some opponents denounced the legislation generally as an unjustifiable intrusion into the free market.

"So it looks like we're going into competition again with the private sector," complained Republican Rep. Debra Plowman.

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