Trump plan to import cheaper drugs advances

Health secretary touts proposal to allow in Canadian medicines

WASHINGTON — The Trump administration, eager to show progress on prescription drug costs, moved forward Wednesday with its plan to allow Americans to safely and legally get access to lower-priced medicines from abroad.

But patients are unlikely to see quick relief on prices, even in states such as Florida that are pursuing their own import plans. Meanwhile, major legislation to lower costs for seniors has gotten bogged down in a Congress consumed by the impeachment of President Donald Trump.

On Capitol Hill, the House and the Senate have different strategies to cut drug costs. There’s considerable overlap between the congressional plans, but there are also sharp differences.

A bipartisan bill in the Senate and House-passed legislation from Speaker Nancy Pelosi would cap what Medicare recipients pay out of pocket for medicines and penalize drug companies that raise their prices above the inflation rate.

Canadian officials have also raised questions, saying their country’s prescription drug market is too small to have any real impact on U.S. prices.

In Washington, U.S. health officials unveiled a proposed regulation that would allow states to import many brand name drugs from Canada, with federal oversight. A second draft plan would let pharmaceutical companies seek approval to import their own drugs, from any country.

It’s unclear if either pathway will be available to patients ahead of the 2020 election, although the Trump administration has advanced beyond its predecessors in trying to set up a supervised system for importing drugs. Medicines cost less in other advanced countries because the governments take an active role in setting prices.

Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar traveled to Florida on Wednesday to promote the plan with Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis. Earlier this year, DeSantis signed a bill intended to allow pharmacies and wholesalers in his state to import drugs from Canada, for patients covered by

Medicare.

There are still some hurdles before Florida can start, the governor acknowledged Wednesday.

“This is not easy stuff,” DeSantis said. More work is needed, “but I’d much rather be here moving forward than on the sidelines chirping,” he added.

Azar earlier told reporters that allowing imports “can move us to a more open and competitive market.”

“We will not take steps that would put patients or our drug supply at risk,” he added.

Wednesday’s proposals follow the outline of an announcement by the White House in July. Many people already buy at least some of their medicines from pharmacies in Canada or Mexico, although technically it’s illegal to import them.

The idea of allowing importation has been around for years, but previous attempts have been blocked by pharmaceutical industry lobbying and safety concerns seconded by government regulators. government programs like