Maine: Another proposed prescription tax

In her proposed state budget, Maine Governor Janet Mills has included a 70-cent per prescription fee. APC wrote this week in opposition to it. 

In our letter to Governor Mills — as well as the chair and ranking members of the Maine legislature’s Joint Standing Committee on Appropriations and Financial Affairs — we pointed out that the fee “will create a disproportionate financial burden on independent pharmacies, particularly in rural communities where access to care is already fragile.” (Not to mention the fact that there hasn’t been any kind of formal stakeholder engagement process.)

We urged the governor and the legislature to reconsider the tax, to engage with stakeholders including compounding pharmacists, and to find ways to support the state’s MaineCare Medicaid program “that do not undermine pharmacy viability or limit patient access.”