Maine Rx draws interest of other states

CONCORD, N.H. – Legislators from around the country gathered Friday to hear Maine Attorney General G. Steven Rowe talk about his state’s pioneering legislation to lower prescription drug costs.

The most commonly asked question: Where can we see the legislation? Many appeared eager to push similar initiatives in their own states, including one councilor from the District of Columbia.

Interest in the National Legislative Association on Prescription Drug Prices is growing. The group, which shares information about ways states can reduce the cost of prescription drugs, held a daylong meeting here where members heard details of the Maine initiative and other state efforts.

In the audience sat numerous representatives from major pharmaceutical companies and pharmacy benefit managers, taking notes to report back to their companies.

Maine’s program, signed into law Tuesday, allows the state to use its buying power under the federal Medicaid program to negotiate with drug companies for better prices in exchange for placing their products on a preferred drug list. The program is expected to provide discount prescriptions for about 275,000 people in Maine, Rowe said, including the elderly, the working poor and others who struggle to pay for medicine.

The proposal was challenged in court by drug makers as violating federal commerce laws and federal Medicaid rules, Rowe said. A U.S. Supreme Court ruling last month, however, cleared the way for Maine to proceed.

Maine Rep. Thomas Kane, D-Saco, said worries that companies would blacklist Maine as a result have not happened.

“There have been a few of the larger pharmaceutical companies that have held back, but it hasn’t diminished our confidence,” he said.

Those attending the conference included representatives from Illinois, the District of Columbia, Connecticut, Vermont, Rhode Island and New Hampshire.

Former Vermont senate leader Peter Shumlin encouraged other states to push through their own versions of the Maine initiative. “I think it’s clear change is not going to come from Washington. It’s going to come from the states,” he said.