An Act Regarding Prescription Medications for Children under the MaineCare Program
Maine Legislature, Session 126, LD 0716
Committee Amendment CA_A_H368 (House)

COMMITTEE AMENDMENT "A" to H.P. 488, L.D. 716, Bill, "An Act 
Regarding Prescription Medications for Children under the MaineCare Program" 
Amend the bill by striking out the title and substituting the following: 
'Resolve, To Review and Make Recommendations on Appropriate Prescribing of 
Certain Medications for Children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder 
That Are Reimbursed under the MaineCare Program' 
Amend the bill by striking out everything after the title and before the summary and 
inserting the following: 
'Sec. 1. 
Department of Health and Human Services work group. 
Resolved: That the Commissioner of Health and Human Services shall convene a work 
group to review and make recommendations on appropriate prescribing of certain 
medications for children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. The review must 
focus on stimulants and other medications with an indication from the United States 
Department of Health and Human Services, United States Food and Drug Administration 
for the treatment of children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and on their 
reimbursement through the MaineCare program. 
1. The tasks of the work group include, but are not limited to, the following: 
A. Gathering and reviewing data on the use of stimulant medications in children, 
including the diagnoses for which the drugs are prescribed and typical lengths of time 
that children receiving services from the Department of Health and Human Services 
or Child Development Services System through the Department of Education or the 
MaineCare program are prescribed stimulant medications; 
B. 
Comparing the use of stimulant medications in the MaineCare and non-
MaineCare populations and the costs of those medications; 
C. 
Reviewing approaches that support prescribers in achieving evidence-based 
prescribing and monitoring practices, including academic detailing and telemedicine, 
and the work being done by the child psychiatry access program and the consultation 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT -A" to H.P. 488, L.D. 716 
project of the Maine Academy of Family Physicians and the Maine Association of 
Psychiatric Physicians; 
D. Identifying methods of reimbursement and sources of funding, including grant 
funding and federal funding, to increase access to psychiatric services and reduce 
barriers to services; and 
E. Making any recommendations for improvements in access to behavioral health 
and psychiatric services and in prescribing practices as determined to be appropriate 
by the work group. 
2. The commissioner shall appoint as chair the person who serves as chair of the 
0 
psychiatric work group of the MaineCare drug utilization review committee. The chair 
shall appoint the members. The work group must include key state employees, including 
representatives of the office within the Department of Health and Human Services 
providing MaineCare services and private sector stakeholders. 
The chair shall seek 
members of the public who are interested in the subject matter of the work group and 
members from the following entities and organizations: Goold Health Systems, the Maine 
Association of Psychiatric Physicians, the Maine Council on Child and Adolescent 
Psychiatry, the Maine Psychological Association, the Maine Children's Alliance, the 
Maine Developmental Disabilities Council and the academic detailing advisory 
committee convened by the Maine Medical Association and the Department of Health 
and Human Services. The chair shall notify members of the Joint Standing Committee on 
Health and Human Services of the location, date and time of each meeting so that 
members may attend voluntarily and without reimbursement. The Department of Health 
and Human Services shall fund the work of the work group from within existing 
resources. 
3. The Department of Health and Human Services shall report on the findings and 
recommendations of the work group by January 15, 2014 to the Joint Standing 
Committee on Health and Human Services.' 
SUMMARY 
This amendment replaces the bill with a resolve and changes the title. 
The 
amendment establishes a work group to review the use of certain medications prescribed 
to children for the treatment of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and reimbursed 
through the MaineCare program and to make any recommendations for improvements in 
access to behavioral health and psychiatrIc services and for improvements in prescribing 
practices as determined to be appropriate by the work group. The amendment directs the 
Department of Health and Human Services to report its findings and recommendations to 
the Joint Standing Committee on Health and Human SerVices not later than January 15, 
2014. 
FISCAL :\OTE RE<Ji li{i.li 
(See at~ached) 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT 
'" 
Approved: 06/01113 
frac:.. 
, 
LD 716 
LR 1156(02) 
An Act Regarding Prescription Medications for Children under the MaineCare Program 
Fiscal Note for Bill as Amended by Committee Amendment ;t' ( H . 3{Pg) 
Committee: Health and Human Services 
Fiscal Note Required: Yes 
Fiscal Note 
Minor cost increase - General Fund 
Fiscal Detail and Notes 
Additional costs to the Department of Health and Human Services are expected to be minor and can be absorbed 
within existing budgeted resources. 
LRl156(02) - Fiscal Note - Page 1 of 1