'Drug Re-Importation' is a Cop-Out and a Sham

[iceman66]

It is simply appalling that allowing Americans to buy prescription drugs from Canada is the BEST suggestion that is being offered by our so-called leaders to control prescription drug prices.

We should be paying LESS than Canada for prescription drugs for two simple reasons:

1. Many of these drugs are produced here to begin with - hence the term "re-importation".

2. Simple economy of scale - the US is a much bigger market than Canada, and should be able to negotiate a much better deal with the drug companies than Canada on that basis.

Unfortunately, no one in Congress is even proposing any kind of price controls or regulation of pharmaceutical industry profits.

With 'Democrats' like these, who needs Republicans!

[leftstreet]

1. That's a very good point

I wonder if somewhere in that 2,000 page bill our Overlords are suggesting we be allowed to get medical care in Mexico.

[iceman66]

2. It won't be long before their health care system is better than ours.

If it isn't already.

[izquierdista]

7. It is already

And lots more drugs are available over the counter at prices set by the Mexican government to be affordable to the average Mexican.

[timeforpeace]

3. Our government will never do that, so re-importation makes a lot of sense, plus saves huge amounts

of money for the Rx consumer.

[iceman66]

5. I just don't think they should get a pass on this issue.

If our government truly served the people, we could have a BETTER health care system than Canada, France, etc.

This is a point that gets lost in all the rhetoric about 'socialized medicine'.

[jberryhill]

10. For a very short period of time

Until the quantity shipped to Canada is limited to projected Canadian consumption.

Please answer me seriously:

When the quantity of, say, Lipitor shipped to Canada goes up by a factor of 8, what do you think will be the next thing that happens?

Put on your thinking cap and puzzle that out.

Removing the BASIS for the negotiated price in Canada is going to screw the Canadians.

[rollingrock]

4. The WH gave big pharma a sweetheart backroom deal

and this time the Pharma lobby didn't even have didn't even have to
go through the congress to get it, as they had to do under Bush!

[iceman66]

6. So they say.

It is still alarming to me that NO ONE in Congress is speaking up about this!

[rollingrock]

8. Under Bush

the congress passed a bill that effectively prohibits government from negotiating drug prices, as well as banning the re-importation of drugs (I forget the name of it, but it passed in 2002 I believe). The Obama WH later agreed to an under the table agreement with the pharma industry that Obama wouldn't do anything to disturb the provisions of the Bush/Republican bill and do everything in his power to protect it, in exchange for the pharma industry's support of his health 'reform' plan. their under the table agreement has been well documented.

[iceman66]

20. If more people actually paid attention to politics in this country,

anyone who voted for that bill would have been out on their ass the next election cycle.

Prohibiting the government from negotiating for the benefit of the citizenry is borderline treasonous.

But then, if more people actually paid attention to politics we would have very few elected Republicans.

The reason Democratic officials go along with this shit is that they know they don't have to worry about anyone challenging them from the left come election time.

[HughMoran]

9. I asked the same question here the other day

In addition, what's to prevent Canada and other countries from banning the practice, since effectively this would jack up their prices as drug companies would raise prices to recoup their losses? Should we pass a law that might help some people for just a short time?

[jberryhill]

11. You'll never get believers in the magic price fairy to answer you

It's like oil. Once we screw over the price structure in other countries, then we drill somewhere else.

They think the drug companies won't notice that Liechtenstein is suddenly importing 200x over their domestic consumption.

Pinheads.

[laughingliberal]

16. Liechtenstein importing 200x over their domestic consumption won't raise their prices

It is precisely the huge buying power of other countries which allows them to negotiate decent prices with the drug companies. We could do it but it's illegal to do anything that might interfere with their profits here.

[jberryhill]

18. You don't understand

Reimportation to the US will be a deal breaker for those other countries that allow it.

The drug companies will simply require that such countries not export drugs purchased at the negotiated price or the deal is off.

You really think that the US is going to reimport a significant quantity and the drug companies will just say "curses, foiled again" and not figure out an immediate counter strategy?

Have you asked Canadian health officials about this clever plan? They already know what will happen.

Those prices are tied to volume.

It's like going to the races, seeing a horse at six to one, and then betting a million dollars on it. The odds at post are not going to be six to one anymore.

[laughingliberal]

19. You could be right. We all know the problem here is the American people deserve a government that

uses its purchasing power to negotiate sane prices for prescription drugs. But nooooo. We pay $120 for an Rx that cost $7 in England. Is this a great country or what?

[jberryhill]

28. The point is....

If we buy that drug at $7 in England, then it is not going to stay $7 in England.

Either that or the English won't get any.

That's why other countries don't want us doing this.

[iceman66]

21. But we have more buying power than most of those other countries put together

If the government actually worked for the people, it could negotiate much BETTER prices than Canada or any of the European countries.

Has this EVER been pointed out by any elected official?

[jberryhill]

22. Yes.... Before said official is called a socialist

The ability to negotiate drug prices comes with a substantial public plan of some kind, whether a single payer or national health care system.

Until we have that, reimportation is only a short term route to screwing other countries by flooding those countries with American dollars looking for those negotiated price drugs. That is not a situation which remains stable for long.

That's why I just don't understand why people believe the magic price fairy will maintain the status quo if we go whole hog on reimportation.

[Warren Stupidity]

12. It isn't the best solution. It is a crappy solution.

But laid bare is the fact that the Senate is owned, lock stock and barrel, by the corporate kleptocracy, and that only a serious political revolution is going to change that.

[tuvor]

13. Besides, whatever happened to the "Buy American" credo?

Shouldn't that apply here?

[jberryhill]

25. The reimported drugs ARE American

....and produced in the plants in Puerto Rico that we gave pharma tax breaks to build there.

[Canuckistanian]

14. I've been saying that for a long time

There's no magical formula for making Canadian drugs cheaper. It's because whole provinces make deals for massive amounts of pharmaceutical drugs. It's a volume discount, pure and simple.

Drug companies charge Americans more because they can - because nobody forces them to sell any cheaper.

But hey, keep sending those busloads of seniors up here. They bring in extra business for us.

[andym]

15. To control medical inflation, the cost of drugs and medical devices

needs to be contained. The best way is to have a large group (like the govt on behalf of Medicare) do the negotiating.

[jasi2006]

17. There should be windfall profits taxes on both pharma and insurance companies. nt

[TwilightGardener]

23. It's ridiculous that a proposal to make Canada our middleman-distributor

is taken seriously--I agree with you, why not attack the problem DIRECTLY? It's just silly. And if Obama won't budge on allowing price negotiations, then he deserves whatever disgruntlement he gets.

[iceman66]

26. The US has TEN TIMES the population of Canada

We SHOULD have the BEST prescription drug prices in the world!

This drug re-importation scheme would be like Wal-Mart, the biggest retailer, buying merchandise from the mom and pop store down the street to re-sell to consumers instead of negotiating a better deal with the manufacturer.

Its just crazy.

[TwilightGardener]

27. They gouge us because they can, because our whole health care system

is profit-driven from every angle, and nothing can be allowed to interfere with those massive profits, lest we be called "soshulists".

[tabbycat31]

24. you want to make drugs cheaper

it can be done very easily--- ban all TV advertising for them