Supreme Court Upholds Maine Rx Program

May 19, 2003
The Supreme Court upheld Maine's state program that extends discount drug prices to the poor and uninsured but it left open further challenges to the program. The 6-3 vote is at least a temporary setback to the drug industry, which had argued that the state law conflicted with federal Medicaid laws and violated the Constitution by interfering with interstate commerce.

The ruling is a "victory for consumers, who deserve access to more affordable prescription drugs," said U.S. Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine.

Prices of all major pharmaceutical companies plunged when news of the decision was released. Meanwhile, caregiving advocates hailed the decision.

"The Bush Administration should stop favoring the pharmaceutical industry, as it did in this case, and should work with Maine and the other 49 states to stop price-gouging at the expense of American lives, said Robert M. Hayes, president of the Medicare Rights Center.

Writing for the court majority, Justice John Paul Stevens wrote that the drug industry "has not carried its burden of showing a probability of success on the merits of its claims."

The ruling stopped short of providing a complete endorsement of the law. Stevens said further proceedings will determine the program's validity, and added the drug industry still could end up prevailing.

Stevens noted that Secretary of Health and Human Services Tommy G. Thompson had not yet issued a determination of whether the Maine program was acceptable. Until he acts, Stevens said the court could not predict the ultimate fate of the program.

The law known as Maine Rx was adopted in 2000. It enables the state to negotiate bulk discounts from drug makers in an effort to provide affordable prescription drugs for an estimated 325,000 residents who do not have insurance.

There are an estimated 70 million Americans who do not have prescription drug coverage. Most are forced to pay the highest prices for medications because they are not represented by anyone with the clout to negotiate prices, supporters of the Maine law argued. They said the program could lower prescription drug costs by as much as 30 percent for uninsured residents.

More than half of the states and AARP, the lobbying group for those 50 or older, supported Maine while business groups backed the drug industry.