PETITION OF:

SECTION 1. Chapter 111 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2002

Official Edition, is hereby amended by inserting at the end the following new sections:-

Section 216. Any entity, corporation, carrier or partnership which

operates a health maintenance organization as defined in section one of

Chapter 176G shall annually not later than the first day of October file with the commissioner of public health a plan of service for the coming calendar year. Said plan of service shall include in exact detail every benefit, service, hospital, clinic, covered procedure, emergency care policy, all physicians, participants, all nursing services participants, all pharmaceutical coverage providers with all exceptions and exclusions, or deductibles of any kind, for every category of member or person covered by the health maintenance organization.

Section 217. The commissioner shall annually conduct a hearing

on the service plan within forty-five days of filing to determine its effect

on the public health, and unless specifically preempted by federal law as it

relates to participating members said service plan shall not take effect

until approved by the commissioner.

Section 218. Except as otherwise specifically preempted by federal law,

whenever a health maintenance organization as defined above seeks to amend

its plan of service during the course of the calendar year it shall first

submit a detailed plan of amendment to the commissioner which shall include

the number of members to be effected by the amendment as well as a statement

of reasons in support of the amendment.

The commissioner or designee shall then schedule a public hearing on

these proposed amendments. The commissioner is authorized to promulgate

regulations to assure public notices of such pending amendments. Except as

otherwise specifically preempted by federal law no such change as proposed

in the amendment shall occur until the commissioner shall determine that

such an amendment is not detrimental to the health of the effected members

and comparable care is otherwise available. In those instances where the

commonwealth is specifically prevented from enforcing statutes of benefits,

the commissioner shall conduct a public hearing to determine the effect of

the proposed amendment on the public health and shall file a written copy of

his finding with the state secretary who shall publish the same.

SECTION 2. Chapter 112 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2002

Official Edition, is hereby amended by inserting after section 42A the

following new sections:-

Section 42B. No pharmacist or store licensed under this chapter who is

engaged in the "drug business" as defined in section 37 shall sell to a

retail consumer either directly or indirectly any medication which requires

a prescription from a professional licensed under this chapter without

disclosing in writing the wholesale price of the drug being delivered as well

as the exact co-pay or contribution being made on the consumer's behalf by

any insurer or HMO or their agents. Consumer's may not waive this right of

disclosure.

Section 42C. Any entity licensed as a wholesale distributor of

prescription drugs or any entity which is licensed under section 38 of this

chapter to sell prescription drugs shall annually submit to the board of

registration in pharmacy a report identifying the total number of

prescriptions it sold or in the case of' whatever the total volume of drugs

it sold identifying the drug by trade name as well as generic name. The

board may by rule require the annual disclosure of additional information as

to description of products sold and general information about the manner in

which prescriptions are filled. A copy of such report shall be transmitted to

the commissioner of public health.