F.__ The director of the Governor's Office of Health Policy and Finance or the director's designee or the director of a successor agency.

2.__Chair and staff assistance.__The chair of the council is the director of the Governor's Office of Health Policy and Finance or the director's designee or the director of a successor agency, who shall convene the council. The Governor's Office of Health Policy and Finance or a successor agency shall provide necessary staffing services to the council.

3.__Purpose.__The purpose of the council is to maximize the cost effectiveness of the pharmaceutical benefit offered by all health plans that are financed, in whole or in part, with public dollars.__Other public purchasers not listed in subsection 1, paragraph E and private purchasers may join the council to participate in savings opportunities.

4.__Parameters of joint purchasing effort. The council shall jointly purchase pharmaceuticals with the State in order to reduce costs for all participating parties and maximize savings by pooling purchasing power, but not to fundamentally alter the independent nature of any of the health plans involved in the council.__The joint purchasing effort must ensure:

A.__Each of the participating plans retains its distinct nature, with members of each plan maintaining their current medical coverage and participating organizations retaining current contracts, except for amendments required to implement the joint pharmaceutical purchasing effort;

B.__The members of participating plans have open access to all prescription drugs; as medically needed, a 3-tiered pharmaceutical benefit must be designed and implemented;

C.__Full coverage of certain drugs must be contingent upon satisfaction of clinical criteria;

D.__A preferred drug list must identify clinically efficacious, high-quality prescription drugs that are also cost effective; these drugs may not require prior approval. The preferred drug list must to the extent possible be based on MaineCare's preferred drug list and must be advised by MaineCare's clinical drug utilization committee;