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An Act To Establish an Exemption to the 30-day Supply Limitation on Certain Pain Medication
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1. 32 MRSA §2210, sub-§1, ¶C, as enacted by PL 2015, c. 488, §13, is amended to read:
 
C. On or after January 1, 2017, within a 30-day period, more than a 30-day supply of an opioid medication to a patient under treatment for chronic pain or more than a 6-month supply of an opioid medication to a patient under treatment for chronic pain who will be out of the country at the end of the 30-day period. "Chronic pain" has the same meaning as in Title 22, section 7246, subsection 1-C; or
Sec. 2. 32 MRSA §2600-C, sub-§1, ¶C, as enacted by PL 2015, c. 488, §17, is amended to read:
 
C. On or after January 1, 2017, within a 30-day period, more than a 30-day supply of an opioid medication to a patient under treatment for chronic pain or more than a 6-month supply of an opioid medication to a patient under treatment for chronic pain who will be out of the country at the end of the 30-day period. For purposes of this paragraph, "chronic pain" has the same meaning as in Title 22, section 7246, subsection 1-C; or
Sec. 3. 32 MRSA §3300-F, sub-§1, ¶C, as enacted by PL 2015, c. 488, §20, is amended to read:
 
C. On or after January 1, 2017, within a 30-day period, more than a 30-day supply of an opioid medication to a patient under treatment for chronic pain or more than a 6-month supply of an opioid medication to a patient under treatment for chronic pain who will be out of the country at the end of the 30-day period. "Chronic pain" has the same meaning as in Title 22, section 7246, subsection 1-C; or
Sec. 4. 32 MRSA §3657, sub-§1, ¶C, as enacted by PL 2015, c. 488, §23, is amended to read:
 
C. On or after January 1, 2017, within a 30-day period, more than a 30-day supply of an opioid medication to a patient under treatment for chronic pain or more than a 6-month supply of an opioid medication to a patient under treatment for chronic pain who will be out of the country at the end of the 30-day period. "Chronic pain" has the same meaning as in Title 22, section 7246, subsection 1-C; or
Sec. 5. 32 MRSA §18308, sub-§1, ¶C, as enacted by PL 2015, c. 488, §32, is amended to read:
 
C. On or after January 1, 2017, within a 30-day period, more than a 30-day supply of an opioid medication to a patient under treatment for chronic pain or more than a 6-month supply of an opioid medication to a patient under treatment for chronic pain who will be out of the country at the end of the 30-day period. For purposes of this paragraph, "chronic pain" has the same meaning as in Title 22, section 7246, subsection 1-C; or
 
SUMMARY
Current law prohibits an individual licensed to prescribe opioid medication from prescribing more than a 30-day supply of an opioid medication to a patient under treatment for chronic pain. This bill allows an individual licensed to prescribe opioid medication to prescribe no more than a 6-month supply of an opioid medication to a patient under treatment for chronic pain who will be out of the country at the end of the 30-day period.