Maine has done just about all it can on its own to persuade the pharmaceutical industry to bring down the price of prescription drugs. But when legislative leaders travel to Vermont tomorrow to meet with lawmakers from several other states, it can do and learn more about this increasingly expensive part of health care.

The Northeast Legislative Association on Prescription Drug Prices – which includes the New England states plus New York and Pennsylvania – hopes to use the buying power of 43 million people under federal, state and private health plans to negotiate deals with drug companies. That is, the states want to use the same business tactics used by HMOs to get better prices for their clients. At the federal level, Rep. Tom Allen has been pushing just such a bill for years but has met steady and so far successful resistance from Phrma, the pharmaceutical lobby.

The Northeast association plans to discuss with representatives of other states how they might, in effect, behave as if Congress had done something and band together. Maine currently is facing two lawsuits from the drug industry for negotiating on behalf of residents but the need for lower-priced prescription drugs is so obvious that the risk has been justified. In one of the suits, over the Maine Rx program, which the Supreme Court is considering whether to hear, Sen. Olympia Snowe urged Solicitor General Theodore Olson to support the Maine program vigorously because it would “make prescription drug therapy more affordable for thousands of people in Maine.”

The states hope by working together to save residents as much as 40 percent on drugs, though a pharmacy benefits manager reviewed Maine’s programs and found that the savings it was already getting was about as low as it could drive the price. There may be specific deals with individual firms looking to gain market share for new products where Maine could do even better, but Maine may have to look elsewhere for added savings.

That’s where working and learning from other states comes in. Maine already has seen other states streamline buying processes through improved computer programs and could use computers to find the best prices. Similarly, it might find further savings by providing more patient education on the most effective course of medication. Or it may find better methods for carrying out its prior-authorization process.

These long-term savings will be crucial to keeping down prices, and relying on the expertise from other states should help. Maine can’t afford not to have it help.