2:35 PM CST Monday
Study: Illinois could save $91M a year using Canadian drugs
The state of Illinois could save up to $90.7 million a year if it could import prescription drugs from Canada, said Gov. Rod Blagojevich Monday.
The estimated cost savings were released in a 85-page study Blagojevich ordered last month.
If the Food and Drug Administration approved an import plan, state employees and retirees enrolled in a Canadian mail-order plan using three prescriptions a month would save up to $1,008 per year on co-payments. That would reduce the burden on Illinois taxpayers who fund the state's prescription program by $56.5 million, down 16.6 percent from last years' $340 million cost.
The study also showed that the Canadian regulatory system provides health and safety protections mostly equivalent to those provided by the State of Illinois. The United States and Canada also have comparable requirements at virtually every level for the warehousing and storage of pharmaceuticals. (snip/...)
http://stlouis.bizjournals.com/stlouis/stories/2003/10/27/daily14.html?jst=b_ln_hl