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A Maine program, Maine Rx, is still under deliberation in the United States Supreme Court this week for assessment of constitutionality.
The issue was first introduced to the court on Wednesday, Jan. 22, and the program has been suspended pending legal review.
Maine Rx, implemented by the state Legislature, was intended to lower prescription drug costs for state residents, including those without insurance coverage. Maine Rx was considered a revolutionary program when it was first passed in 2000. Since then it has only faced challenges, according to a Jan. 20, Bangor Daily News article.
If deemed constitutional by the Supreme Court, the program would grant lower prices on prescription drugs for more than 300,000 Maine residents.
The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America view the program as unconstitutional based on its alleged attempt to regulate interstate commerce, according to the BDN.
“You’re talking about over 300,000 individuals who can’t afford drugs,” State Rep. Jonathan Thomas said Monday.
“I think this is one thing the state can do to make sure that those people who aren’t usually able to get the drugs they need, can,” Thomas added.
The issue has caused an uproar nationally, as about 30 states have come out in support of Maine’s prescription plan. Conversely, the Bush administration has argued that Maine Rx would only be legal if provided strictly for low-income residents.
The concept of providing those who already can afford prescription costs with discounts has been met with widespread concern. But, according to UMaine’s Cutler Health Center secretary, Angela McCormack, this should be the least of people’s worries.
“There are income guidelines and you do need to make a certain amount of money to be qualified for the program,” she said.
Maine Rx was denied by a Maine federal judge and that decision was later upheld on appeal. When the program was forced to a halt, the state then obtained a Medicaid waiver for the new Healthy Maine Prescriptions program. This program provided more than 100,000 Maine residents with up to 25 percent discounts for prescription drugs.
A court ruling from Dec. 24, 2002, has since blocked the program, according to the BDN.
The Healthy Maine Prescriptions program was instituted at Cutler for about one year prior to its discontinuation in December, according to McCormack.
Under the guidelines of this program, single students whose gross monthly income was under $2,148 were eligible for benefits. Since a majority of students on this campus would qualify within that monthly income bracket, McCormack said it is unfortunate the program was suspended.
“It’s extremely valuable for students. You’re already investing so much into coming here [to the university], you certainly don’t want to be spending all of your money on prescription drugs that you need when you could get them cheaper,” McCormack said. “Each person could save hundreds of dollars with this program.”
Thomas agreed that the Maine Rx program is beneficial to Maine residents.
“There are hundreds of thousands of people who have no way of buying reasonable prescriptions. Anything we can do to help them will certainly take a huge chunk of burden off a large number of citizens in Maine,” he said.
Prior to the program’s suspension, about 25 to 30 students benefited from the discounts. Although the number appears low, it does not include the possible UMaine students who were involved with the program outside of Cutler, McCormack said.
The program was not accepted at Cutler’s pharmacy because Cutler is not licensed to accept Medicaid and because UMaine has chosen not to accept third party insurance providers, according to Debra Kotredes, Cutler pharmacy coordinator. This could also signify why such a small number of UMaine students used the program.
Without the Healthy Maine Prescriptions program under the Maine Rx program, more problems may arise, McCormack said.
“It’s just going to force more people onto Medicaid who don’t really need the benefits, they just need the prescriptions to live,” she said.
According to Thomas, the United States has some of the highest prescription drug costs in the world, which is becoming too large of an issue to ignore.
“There are things that any government should be doing, obviously national security and overseeing economics in a country, but I think health care needs to be top rank and I don’t think it’s getting the right amount of attention it needs,” he said.
Until the Supreme Court makes a decision on the constitutionality of Maine Rx, the attention prescription costs need will be left in jeopardy.
