In the past couple of months, President Trump has issued four executive orders, which he claims could lead to lower prescription drug costs. The proof is in the pudding, and there is none. Now, after blowing a deal with the pharmaceutical industry that would have put $150 billion in drug costs back in people’s pockets, President Trump is saying he wants to make drug importation from Canada legal in some instances. He is not likely to succeed at that either.
President Trump appears to believe that lowering drug costs could gain him reelection support, particularly from older adults whose support he has been losing. He recently spent a bunch of time negotiating for lower out-of-pocket drug costs with the pharmaceutical industry, including Medicare Part D copays, Jonathan Martin and Maggie Haberman report for The New York Times. But, to garner additional political support for his reelection, he told the pharmaceutical industry that he also wanted companies to provide everyone in the US with a $100 drug discount card, a “Trump card,” before election day. And, with that, the whole deal imploded.
The pharmaceutical industry would not agree to this political maneuver in the weeks before the election. And, Pharma argued $100 in savings would be of little help to people. So, instead, Trump released an executive order, which would test the benefits of having Medicare Parts B and D pay the average prices other wealthy countries pay for prescription drugs. That order has little chance of implementation.
Perhaps because President Trump wants to be known for having done something effective to lower drug prices and perhaps because he wants to do his state allies a favor, he is now talking about allowing states to import some prescription drugs from Canada, reports Phil Galewitz for Kaiser Health News. So far, six states are hoping to get the federal government to allow them to import Canadian drugs, Colorado, Florida, Maine, New Hampshire, New Mexico and Vermont. President Trump and Governor DeSantis of Florida are close allies, and this is something DeSantis wants; among other things, it would save the state $150 million a year.
The Office of Management and Budget (“OMB”) is currently reviewing the Food and Drug Administration’s final plan. The plan addresses the drugs that could be imported and the ways in which states would oversee drug importation. It does not allow importation of injectable and biologic medicines.
The plan might be so restrictive that it makes importation impossible. Even if OMB approves it, states might not be able to act on it. The pharmaceutical industry will challenge the plan in court, claiming it violates federal legislation and the US Constitution.
The Canadian government, for its part, is none too happy about this plan and is not going to support it. It fears that it could keep Canadians from getting needed medicines. There are not enough medicines available in Canada to satisfy the need in both the US and Canada.
So, the plan is dead on arrival. States would need to partner with the Canadian government if they wanted to import drugs from Canada.
Americans who want less expensive drugs can import them for personal use, as millions do today. While it is illegal to import them, the federal government has never prosecuted anyone for importing prescription drugs for personal use. Indeed, retail stores in Florida are in business to help Floridians import drugs from Canada.
For reasons beyond comprehension, neither the George W. Bush administration nor the Obama administration were willing to allow drug importation from Canada. They say they worry about “safety” issues when it comes to prescription drugs. It’s a strange claim given that they don’t worry about food importation safety issues and there are verified pharmacies around the world. Moreover, there is nothing safe about forcing people to forgo needed drugs they cannot afford because prices in the US are so high.
Canada’s drug prices are considerably lower than prices in the US, though other wealthy countries have lower prices overall. Even still, through importation, estimates are that cancer drug prices would be cut in half and heart drugs would be a quarter of what they are today.
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