Whereas, the 121st Legislature in the Second Special Session enacted legislation requiring pharmaceutical manufacturers to report certain pricing information to the Department of Health and Human Services; and

Whereas, certain provisions of those reporting requirements require clarification or are duplicative of data otherwise available to the department; and

Whereas, clarification of those provisions is necessary in advance of the first reporting deadline of April 2005; and

Whereas, the reportable information constitutes trade secrets, and the existing confidentiality protection afforded to the reported information is not adequate; and

Whereas, in the judgment of the Legislature, these facts create an emergency within the meaning of the Constitution of Maine and require the following legislation as immediately necessary for the preservation of the public peace, health and safety; now, therefore,

Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:

Sec. 1. 22 MRSA §2698-B, sub-§1, as enacted by PL 2003, c. 667, §1 and affected by §2, is amended to read:

1. Quarterly report. A manufacturer of prescription drugs dispensed in this State under a health program directed or administered by the State shall, on a quarterly basis, report by National Drug Code the following pharmaceutical pricing criteria to the commissioner for each of its drugs:

A. The average wholesale price;

B. The wholesale acquisition cost;

C. The average manufacturer price as defined in 42 United States Code, Section 1396r-8(k); and

D. The best price as defined in 42 United States Code, Section 1396r-8(c)(1)(C).

The pricing information required under this section is for drugs defined under the Medicaid drug rebate program and must be submitted to the commissioner following its submission to the