An Act To Increase Consumer Awareness of Prescription Drug Pricing
Sec. 1. 32 MRSA §13783-A is enacted to read:
§ 13783-A. Prescription drug price reporting and posting
A. “Chain pharmacy” means a pharmacy licensed in this State that is part of a corporate grouping with 4 or more pharmacies.
B. “Director” means the director of the Governor's Office of Health Policy and Finance or the director of a successor agency.
C. “Popular drug list” means the 20 most-distributed prescription drugs in this State as determined by the director pursuant to subsection 3.
A. The director shall determine which drugs appear on the popular drug list. The director may determine this list by any reliable means using any reliable source, including, but not limited to, the department, the Department of Health and Human Services, the board and the Prescription Drug Advisory Commission.
B. The director, on at least a semiannual basis, shall notify each chain pharmacy licensed in this State of the prescription drugs on the popular drug list.
C. The director shall receive and compile the information provided by chain pharmacies pursuant to subsection 4.
D. The director shall post on a publicly accessible website the following information:
(1) The names of the drugs on the popular drug list;
(2) The names of the chain pharmacies;
(3) The retail prices reported by each chain pharmacy for each of the drugs on the popular drug list; and
(4) If there is a generic equivalent to a prescription drug on the popular drug list that is sold by a chain pharmacy, the name of the generic equivalent and the retail price reported by that chain pharmacy for that generic equivalent.
The director may allow each chain pharmacy to include a brief statement explaining the prices charged by that chain pharmacy.
SUMMARY
This bill requires the director of the Governor's Office of Health Policy and Finance to compile a list of the 20 most-distributed prescription drugs in this State. The director is required to notify at least semiannually each chain pharmacy licensed in this State of the listed drugs. Each chain pharmacy, which is defined as a pharmacy that is part of a corporate grouping with 4 or more pharmacies, is required to report monthly to the director the retail price charged for each of the drugs on the list as well as the retail price charged for a generic equivalent of a drug on the list. Each chain pharmacy is required to post the list in its store along with the prices charged by that chain pharmacy for the drugs on the list and any generic equivalents to those drugs. The director is required to post on a publicly accessible website the list, the names of the chain pharmacies reporting, the prices charged by each chain pharmacy for the listed drugs and the names and prices charged by each chain pharmacy of any generic equivalents to those drugs on the list.