Signed by Governor John Carney, Jr.

Vote Smart's Synopsis:

Vote to pass a bill with amendment that establishes a per-pill tax on prescription opioid painkillers

Highlights:

• Establishes the Prescription Opioid Impact Fund to fund prevention and treatment of opioid addiction (Sec. 1).

• Requires a manufacturer of a prescription opioid to pay a prescription opioid impact fee to the state if more than 100,000 MME of the manufacturer’s prescription opioid products are dispensed in the state in a quarter (Sec. 1). 

• Specifies that the prescription opioid impact fee is calculated as follows (Sec. 1):

• $0.01 per MME for a prescription opioid dispensed and reported in the Prescription Monitoring Program; and 

• $0.0025 per MME for a prescription opioid that is a generic substitution. 

• Authorizes all impact fees, funds received by the state as the result of a civil action relating to opioids, and any other moneys appropriated, to be deposited into the Fund (Sec. 1). 

• Requires money in the Fund to be used for activism in one or more of the following categories (Sec. 1):

• Opioid addiction prevention;

• Addiction services including inpatient and outpatient programs and facilities, services relating to treating substance use disorder for the under-insured and uninsured, emergency assistance relating to prescription opioids, and peer support programs; and 

• The cost of administering this act, but no more than 15 percent of the money annually deposited into the Fund may be used for administration, including expenses incurred by the Prescription Monitoring Program.

• Requires a manufacturer of prescription opioids to pay a penalty of $100 per day or 10 percent of the impact fee due, whichever is greater, if the manufacturer fails to pay the impact fee within one month of an invoice. In addition, any unpaid impact fee bears interest at the rate of 1 percent per month (Sec. 1). 

• Defines “MME” or “morphine milligram equivalent,” as the conversion factor used to calculate the strength of an opioid using morphine dosage as the comparative unit of measure (Sec. 1). 

• Defines “generic substitution” as a drug that is the same active ingredient, equivalent in strength to the strength written on the prescription, and is classified as being therapeutically equivalent to another drug (Sec. 1). 

Full Bill Text