PORTLAND – The pharmaceutical industry presented arguments before a federal appeals court Thursday seeking to overturn a Maine program that provides drug discounts to more than 110,000 low- and moderate-income residents.

The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia to halt the Healthy Maine Prescriptions program temporarily until other courts decide whether the federal government erred in allowing Maine to create the program.

PhRMA is appealing a decision last February by U.S. District Judge Richard Urban that upheld the Healthy Maine program.

Attorneys from the Maine Attorney General’s Office and the U.S. Department of Justice argued the government was within its power to allow Maine to create the program.

A decision is expected early next year.

The Healthy Maine program went into effect June 1, 2001, forcing drug makers to provide prescriptions at Medicaid prices to Maine customers with earnings up to three times the federal poverty level.

Approximately 112,000 people are enrolled in the program, and 225,000 people are eligible. Members receive discounts of about 25 percent on their medications, and more for generic drugs.

PhRMA maintains that the federal government exceeded its authority in allowing the program. It says the program is an improper expansion of Medicaid, a federal-state program for the poor.

Maine assistant attorneys general John Brautigam and Andrew Hagler were in court Thursday along with lawyers for the Justice Department.

“We say the federal government was well within its power to allow Maine to run this demonstration project,” said Chuck Dow, spokesman for the Maine Office of the Attorney General.

PhRMA also argues the Maine program is similar to one in Vermont that was overturned last year by a court of appeals.

“The Maine waiver is virtually identical to a Vermont waiver that has already been thrown out by the courts,” Marjorie Powell, assistant general counsel for PhRMA, said in a statement.

“We recognize the desire of states like Maine and Vermont to help seniors pay for their prescription drugs, but these programs are the wrong way to do it,” Powell said.

Maine officials claim the state’s program differs from Vermont’s because Maine pays state funds to the program, whereas Vermont did not.

The Healthy Maine program is separate from the Maine Rx program, which seeks to lower prescription drug costs for about 325,000 residents who lack insurance by having the state negotiate on their behalf with drug manufacturers for lower prices. Under the law, drug companies that do not provide rebates could face reduced sales to the Maine Medicaid program.

PhRMA has also challenged that law, putting a halt to its implementation. The U.S. Supreme Court will review the case next year.