Maine Senate endorses Sen. Bailey bill to increase access to mail-order prescription drugs

AUGUSTA — Yesterday, the Maine Senate gave unanimous, bipartisan support to a bill from Sen. Donna Bailey, D-Saco. LD 2005, “An Act Regarding Mail Order Delivery of Prescription Drugs,” seeks to increase access to prescriptions when mail-order prescription drugs arrive late or in an unusable condition.

“As a state senator, I am limited in what I can do to improve the United States Postal Service,” said Sen. Bailey. “With this bill, however, I hope that I can ease some of the frustration and worry that Mainers very understandably feel when they don’t receive their prescriptions in the mail. Especially in a state like Maine, it is absolutely critical that everyone has the option to receive their medications in the mail. Some depend on it, based on where they live or their condition.”

Mail-order pharmacies, which ship medication to patients’ homes, protect access to prescription drugs for Mainers who cannot pick up prescriptions in person at their local brick-and-mortar pharmacies or who live in pharmacy deserts. Sen. Bailey’s bill seeks to bolster those protections by ensuring mail-order pharmacy users are guaranteed access to a backup plan should their medications arrive damaged or dangerously late.

As amended, the bill would ensure that a person can get their mail-order prescription drug at an in-network pharmacy if the mail-order prescription drug arrives more than one day after the expected delivery date — or in an unusable condition. It would also ensure that a person would not have to pay additional co-payments, co-insurance payments or out-of-pocket payments for getting their prescription drug at the pharmacy.

LD 2005 faces additional votes in the Senate and House.

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