Amendment #177 to H4100

Prescription Drug Coupons

Representatives Jones of North Reading, Peterson of Grafton, Hill of Ipswich, Poirier of North Attleborough, deMacedo of Plymouth, Adams of Andover, Barrows of Mansfield, Bastien of Gardner, Beaton of Shrewsbury, Boldyga of Southwick, D'Emilia of Bridgewater, Diehl of Whitman, Durant of Spencer, Fattman of Sutton, Ferguson of Holden, Frost of Auburn, Gifford of Wareham, Harrington of Groton, Howitt of Seekonk, Humason of Westfield, Hunt of Sandwich, Kuros of Uxbridge, Levy of Marlborough, Lombardo of Billerica, Lyons of Andover, O'Connell of Taunton, Orrall of Lakeville, Ross of Attleboro, Smola of Palmer, Vieira of Falmouth, Webster of Pembroke, Winslow of Norfolk and Wong of Saugus move to amend the bill by inserting, after section xx, the following section:—

“SECTION XX. Section 3 of chapter 175H of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2010 Official Edition, is hereby amended by adding, at the end thereof, the following two paragraphs:—

This section shall not apply to a discount, rebate, free product voucher or other reduction in out

of pocket expenses, including but not limited to co-payments and deductibles on a prescription drug, biologic or vaccine provided by a pharmaceutical manufacturing company, as defined in section 1 of chapter 111N, that is made available to an individual, if such is provided directly or electronically to the individual or through a so-called “point of sale” or “mail-in” rebate, or through similar means; provided however, that a pharmaceutical manufacturing company shall neither exclude nor favor any individual pharmacy or restricted network of pharmacies in the design of such discount, rebate, free product voucher or other expense reduction offer to an individual; provided further, that this section does not negate the need for a written prescription as otherwise required by law, nor is it intended to constrain a carrier or a health maintenance organization, as defined in chapter 118G, with regard to how its plan design will treat

such discounts, rebates, free product voucher or other reduction in out of pocket expenses, including but not limited to co-payments and deductibles.

For purposes of the Federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 and

regulations issued there under, nothing in this section shall be deemed to require or allow the use or disclosure of health information in any manner that does not otherwise comply with such Act or such regulations.”.