By Maxine Shapiro, KERA 90.1 business commentator
Dallas, TX – Wow! There's a major revolt by governors to ignore a Justice Department lawsuit to block importation of lower-cost prescription drugs from Canada. Good for them. I'm Maxine Shapiro with KERA Marketplace Midday.
The governors from Illinois, Minnesota, Iowa, and Wisconsin all want the ban lifted on re-importation of drugs from Canada. Other governors are verbally joining the rally that would save the states millions of dollars in health care costs. Until the Feds jumped in, Springfield, Massachusetts was already offering a voluntary program for employees to receive their prescription drugs from Canada.
Finally, the whole mind-boggling concept of re-importation is being questioned by both sides of the aisle. It's absurd - a drug being manufactured in the U.S. is bought by Canadian distributors and then sold in Canada for up to 70 percent less than what it's sold for in the U.S. And they're still making a profit.
These state officials mean business. Off the cuff, the governor of Iowa said this morning, his state would save $45 - $50 million by offering state employees and seniors prescription drugs from Canada. The Illinois governor suggested - with drug prices expected to increase by 17 percent this year - all his citizens should be able to reimport their prescriptions. But the underlying motivation of this movement is not to give our neighbors from the north more business. As the governor of Minnesota said, hopefully this uprising will pressure the Feds to pressure the pharmaceutical companies to be more reasonable about the pricing in the U.S. Free trade is all about the best quality at the best price. And no one has really answered the question why we pay so much more.
One component might be the cost of advertising. $2.6 billion was spent on ads last year by the prescription drug industry.
And lastly, what about this FDA excuse, it might not be safe sending it from Canada? They're quite a civilized country with their own strong regulatory infrastructure in place. Keep moving, Governors! For KERA Marketplace Midday, I'm Maxine Shapiro.
Marketplace Midday Reports air on KERA 90.1 Monday - Friday at 1:04 p.m.
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