Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar. NPR/AP.
The Trump Administration has laid out a plan that would allow the importation of drugs from Canada in an effort to reduce costs. NPR. The plan would legalize pilot projects from various US states that would import cheaper drugs from Canada. It would also allow US manufacturers to sell drugs in America that were originally made for export. The state plans had been around for awhile but needed approval from Health and Human Services before they can be implemented. With the new announcement the plans should be good to go. The plan will probably take some time before it can take effect and may face legal challenges from the pharmaceutical companies.
My Comment:
I don't have a lot of knowledge on health care so I can't say too much on if this is a good idea or not. It seems like one as opening up competition usually results in lower prices. I'm not really concerned about quality control issues as Canada is fairly responsible. I do wonder if they are going to be able to meet manufacturing needs but given the fact that this deal is probably good for business for them, they have an incentive to do so. Canada's economy is in shambles and I bet they look forward to any chance to export their products.
It does sound like President Trump and his administration changed their mind about this idea. There may be practical reasons for this. Trump had said he wanted to reduce health care costs but had been mostly unable to get anything passed through congress. By doing this he is at least accomplishing something, even if it won't have the kind of immediate results he wants. At least this way he is doing something to help, even if it is something he previously dismissed. Plus he is keeping a campaign promise as well.
It does seem like this is something that is going to take a long time to get implemented. Though many states already have programs in place to import drugs, many states do not and those states will have to get something passed in order to attempt this. And given American bureaucracy, I expect the move to take a long time before anyone's drug prices are reduced. Even if the program works, and I believe it will, Trump probably won't get much credit for it before the 2020 election. It will likely take longer than that to set up.
However, my main reason for posting this is because it seems like a shrewd political move. The Democratic candidates at last nights debate spent a huge amount of time whining about the high costs of prescription medication. Bernie Sanders was talking about a sob story of how people went to Canada to buy insulin and the other candidates had similar stories about high medication costs.This action takes quite a bit of wind out of their sails.
For all their whining about prescription meds, the President actually did something about it. This puts them in a bad position. If they oppose President Trump's move here they are basically saying that opposing Trump is more important than what is shaping up to be their signature issue for the 2020 campaign. If they do support him (which they should, this is a proposal that the Democrats should like), they will be attacked for it just because it's President Trump's idea. It's a huge lose-lose situation for them either way.
My guess is that the Democrats will act like this idea is bad because it doesn't go far enough. Lowering prices are bad because people shouldn't have to pay for medication at all! That puts them in a safer position but still makes them look like hypocrites for not supporting this move. It's not a very honest position to take but it looks like the only option they have when faced with Trump stealing one of their signature issues.
No comments:
Post a Comment