An Act To Allow a Self-pay Patient To Choose between Generic and Brand-name Medications
Maine Legislature, Session 123, LD 0883
Committee: Health and Human Services
Sponsors: ROSEN, CAMPBELL, LEWIN, PERRY, WALKER, WEBSTER
Amends: 32 MRSA §13781

Legislative Document 
No. 883 
S.P.281 
February 27, 2007 
An Act To Allow a Self-pay Patient To Choose between Generic and 
Brand-name Medications 
Reference to the Committee on Health and Human Services suggested and ordered printed. 
Presented by Senator ROSEN of Hancock. 
Cosponsored by Representative CAMPBELL of Newfield and 
JOY J. O'BRIEN 
Secretary of the Senate 
Representatives: LEWIN of Eliot, PERRY of Calais, WALKER of Lincolnville, WEBSTER of 
Freeport. 
Printed on recycled paper 
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows: 
Sec. 1. 32 MRS A §13781, 2nd ~, as amended by PL 2003, c. 384, § 1 and c. 689, 
Pt. S, §6, is further amended to read: 
Afly Except with regard to a patient who is paying for a drug with the patient's own 
resources, any pharmacist receiving a prescription in which no handwritten check mark 
( ) is found in the box provided shall substitute a generic and therapeutically equivalent 
drug for the drug specified on the prescription if the substituted drug is distributed by a 
business entity doing business in the United States that is subject to suit and the service of 
legal process in the United States and the price of the substituted drug does not exceed the 
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price of the drug specified by the practitioner; except that, when the cost of a prescription 
is to be reimbursed under the MaineCare program pursuant to Title 22, chapter 855, the 
pharmacist shall substitute a generic and therapeutically equivalent drug only when the 
Department of Health and Human Services has determined that the substitute drug would 
be a more cost-effective alternative than the drug prescribed by the practitioner. With 
regard to a patient who is paying for a drug with the patient's own resources, a 
pharmacist shall inquire about the patient's preference for either the brand-name drug or 
generic and therapeutically equivalent drug and dispense the drug that the patient prefers. 
Sec. 2. 32 MRSA §13781, 3rd ~, as amended by PL 2003, c. 384, § I and c. 689, 
Pt. S, §6, is further amended to read: 
If Except with regard to a patient who is paying for a drug with the patient's own 
resources, if a written prescription issued by a practitioner in this State does not contain 
the box described in this section, a pharmacist shall substitute a generic and 
therapeutically equivalent drug for the drug specified on the prescription if the substituted 
drug is distributed by a business entity doing business in the United States that is subject 
to suit and the service oflegal process in the United States and the price of the substituted 
drug does not exceed the price of the drug specified by the practitioner, unless a 
practitioner has handwritten on the prescription form, along with the practitioner'S 
signature, "dispense as written," "DAW," "brand," "brand necessary" or "brand medically 
necessary"; except that, when the cost of a prescription is to be reimbursed under the 
MaineCare program pursuant to Title 22, chapter 855, the pharmacist shall substitute a 
generic and therapeutically equivalent drug only when the Department of Health and 
Human Services has determined that the substitute drug would be a more cost-effective 
alternative than the drug prescribed by the practitioner. With regard to a patient who is 
paying for a drug with the patient's own resources, a pharmacist shall inquire about the 
patient's preference for either the brand-name drug or generic and therapeutically 
equivalent drug and dispense the drug that the patient prefers. 
SUMMARY 
This bill allows a patient who pays for prescription drugs to choose between a brand-
name drug and a generic and therapeutically equivalent drug.