Rx Plus is expected to assist about 275,000 Mainers.

AUGUSTA (AP) – For the second consecutive day Thursday, phones were ringing off the hook in state offices following the announced startup of a discount prescription drug program called Maine Rx Plus.

Gov. John Baldacci said Tuesday that the state would begin signing up members this weekend. On Wednesday, the Human Services Department said it received nearly 1,000 calls to its help line from people interested in enrolling.

On Thursday, officials anticipated they would receive 900 more calls through the day, Human Services spokesman Newell Augur said.

“We had already cleared 400 calls by noontime,” Augur said.

Trish Riley, director of the Governor’s Office of Health Policy and Finance, called the high volume of calls “tangible proof of how important this program will be for Maine people.”

Maine Rx Plus provides discounts of up to 25 percent for brand names and 60 percent for generic drugs. More than 100 pharmacies are participating.

The state was mailing about 73,000 membership cards to former members of the Healthy Maine Prescription Program who would be eligible for Maine Rx Plus. Eventually, the program is expected to help about 275,000 Mainers get drugs at a discount.

After Baldacci’s announcement of the Saturday start-up, the state received so many calls that some people were bounced off the line. Human Services officials encouraged those who got a busy signal to call the toll-free help line again.

The help line is (866) Rx-Maine, or (866) 796-2463, and is staffed between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m.

By Friday, information about Maine Rx Plus will also available on the state’s Web site.

As the program is designed, the state will use its bargaining power to negotiate lower drug prices from manufacturers and make the discounts possible.

But a Republican legislative leader said the retail drug stores themselves will bear the costs of the discounts. House Minority Leader Joe Bruno said manufacturers will pass the costs onto the pharmacies, which he claimed are being asked to sell below wholesale prices.

Bruno, of Raymond, is president of Community Pharmacies, which has 15 stores in the state. He also helped to write an earlier version of the Maine Rx Plus law, which he said protected retail stores from having to bear costs of a discount drug program.

The number of pharmacies that have voluntarily agreed to participate in Maine Rx Plus grew from 100 to 110 between Tuesday and Thursday, the Human Services Department said.

Maine pharmacies will cover the cost of Maine Rx Plus discounts, but only until the state can persuade the drug manufacturers to offer discounts, Riley said.

The state will turn to the drug manufacturers for discounts later this year when the number of Maine Rx Plus enrollees reaches the 275,000 mark, she said.

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On the Net:

Human Services Department: www.maine.gov/dhs

AP-ES-01-15-04 1454EST

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