The program will give small discounts for brand-name medicine.

AUGUSTA – Gov. John Baldacci and key legislators are expected to announce Tuesday that Maine Rx – a state law passed in 2000 to give seniors relief from the high costs of prescriptions – will begin Saturday.

Maine Rx Plus cards will be made available on that day, said Baldacci spokesman Lee Umphrey.

Maine Rx was introduced by former Senate Majority Leader Chellie Pingree in 2000, passed by the House and Senate and signed by Gov. Angus King that year. However, lawsuits from the pharmaceutical industry prevented the program from being implemented.

The lawsuits continued until last May, when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of the state that Maine Rx could be implemented. The justices were uncomfortable that the program was open to all incomes, however.

Baldacci announced he would work to change the program to Maine Rx Plus, open only to those of modest incomes.

The program will also give small discounts for brand-name medicine and deeper discounts for generic prescriptions.

More details were expected to be announced Tuesday.

– Bonnie Washuk