Senate enacts Vitelli drug pricing transparency bill

AUGUSTA — On Wednesday, the Maine Senate voted unanimously to enact a bill from Sen. Eloise Vitelli, D-Arrowsic, that seeks to gather information so policymakers can better understand the scope, cause and contributing factors of this prescription drug crisis.

“Addressing the high cost of prescription drugs is a priority that all of us can agree on,” said Sen. Vitelli. “Too many Mainers are in between a rock and a hard place in trying to choose between purchasing essential medication and basic essentials, and it doesn’t have to be this way. My bill seeks to provide some transparency in the drug pricing process so Mainers and lawmakers can better understand this crisis. I am hopeful that this bill puts us on a path to create some relief for Maine people.”

The amended version of LD 1406 “An Act to Promote Prescription Drug Price Transparency” builds on the existing capacity within the Maine Health Data Organization (MDHO) and develops a plan to gather more specific data from manufacturers. It directs the MDHO  to collect and report on the top 25 prescription drugs that are the most frequently prescribed in the State, the most costly, and have the highest year-over-year increase in total spending.

Rising drug prices are an issue gaining attention all around the country. About one in ten Americans don’t take their medications as prescribed due to the price of drugs. In Maine, the per-person cost of prescription drugs has risen almost 200 percent over the past two decades. Maine’s seniors and working families are really starting to feel the pinch.

The American Academy of Neurology has identified transparency as one of three essential solutions to the prescription drug crisis.

LD 1406 will now head to the governor, who has 10 days to sign it, veto it, or allow it to become law without his signature.

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