The Bush administration is standing in the way of a plan that could reduce the cost of prescription medicine for people living in Maine.
Gov. Baldacci unveiled a new plan Sept. 30 that would have the state work with the Penobscot Indian Nation to re-import drugs from Canada in bulk.
Drug prices in Canada are significantly less than those in the United States because that country negotiates for lower prices.
Re-importation is a roundabout answer to the problem of high drug costs but, as it stands, it’s the shortest path to lower prices – especially for residents in border states such as Maine.
Unfortunately, re-importation requires a waiver from the Department of Health and Human Services. So far, the Bush administration, working through Secretary Tommy Thompson, has refused to grant a single waiver to any of the states that have requested one.
Sen. Olympia Snowe has a bill in the Senate to allow re-importation. Sen. Susan Collins has a second one. Neither has gained much traction.
Baldacci’s idea is solid. It would give an economic development boost to the Penobscot Indians, creating new jobs in an area of the state that needs them while also cutting drug costs.
The governor also introduced a second initiative called Rural Rx, which will try to make medicine more accessible for the uninsured and underinsured by working with qualified health centers and hospitals that are able to negotiate reduced drug prices. Those savings, which the governor estimates at between 25 and 50 percent, would then be passed on to the people using the program.
It’s crazy that states have to develop elaborate mechanisms to provide their residents with affordable prescription drugs. But, until the federal government lifts its prohibition on negotiations and re-importation, there’s little alternative.
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