3086

LAWS OF MARYLAND

[Ch. 677

the Annotated Code of Maryland (1971 Replacement Volume
and 1974 Supplement) be and it is hereby repealed and
re—enacted, with amendments, to read as follows:

Article 43 - Health

4 2.

(a) The State Board of Health and Mental Hygiene
shall (1) administer a program of comprehensive medical
and other care in the State of Maryland for indigent and
medically indigent persons, or either of such classes;
for this purpose the Board of Health and Mental Hygiene
is hereby authorized to contract with insurance
companies, nonprofit health service plans, or with
individuals, associations, partnerships, incorporated or
unincorporated groups of physicians, CHIROPRACTORS,
dentists, podiatrists, optometrists (as defined in § 372
of this article), pharmacists, hospitals, nursing homes,
nurses, opticians, and other health practitioners duly
licensed or certified in this State who perform services
upon the prescription or referral of a physician, for the
provision of care for eligible persons; contracts entered
into by the Board shall be for a one—year period and may
be renewed; within the provisions of the budget the said
Board is hereby authorized to provide bedside nursing
care for eligible persons. (2) The Board of Health and
Mental Hygiene shall conduct and operate such hospitals
as may be established by law and placed under the
jurisdiction of the said Board of Health and Mental
Hygiene for the care of persons suffering from chronic
diseases.

The State Department of Health and the physicians
and pharmacists services subcommittees of the Maryland
medical assistance program advisory committee shall meet
jointly to determine which drugs shall be listed in a
formulary system; and after such meetings, the Department
shall publish such formulary, which shall include those
generic drugs having clinical equivalency. The above
subcommittees shall take due recognition of studies and
recommendations of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration
and shall consult with various schools of pharmacy and
such other medical and pharmacological experts as it
shall deem advisable.

A reimbursement form will be used for prescribing
all drugs under the medicaid program in Maryland and it
shall include the following statement: This prescription
shall be filled by a generic equivalent from the State
Health Department formulary, unless checked by the
prescribing physician.

Unless the physician indicates otherwise on the