“We will finally allow the safe and legal importation of prescription drugs from Canada and other countries where the price for the identical drug is incredibly lowered,” said Trump at a press conference.
In the video. Trump brags his executive orders will allow something that other presidents “promised for decades and decades”.
OK, but why nearly four years into your presidency?
The Wall Street Journal reports Trump Signs Executive Orders Aimed at Reducing Drug Prices.
One of the executive orders focuses on pegging the cost of drugs in the U.S. to lower drug prices overseas, and another concerns speeding imports of drugs from Canada. The pharmaceutical industry and some Republicans have criticized the first order, saying it amounts to price controls, while opponents of the second initiative say it raises questions about product safety.
Another would require community health centers to pass on negotiated discounts on insulin and epinephrine-injector devices to consumers. And a fourth would attempt to undercut “middlemen” whom Mr. Trump described as profiting from deals with drugmakers and don’t pass along discounts to consumers.
“We’re standing up to the lobbyists and special interests and fighting back against a rigged system,” said Mr. Trump, who also said he would push for drugs to be purchased at the same prices offered to other countries.
Will the orders do any good?
Pharmaceutical industry groups have argued the administration’s plan could threaten patient safety by letting in substandard or counterfeit drugs. Canadian officials have also expressed concern over the move, saying they don’t want the U.S. raiding their medicine supply.
Drugmakers have said it would reduce investment in research and that it wouldn’t work for drugs that are developed but not yet sold overseas.
Correct Action, Questionable Motives
Trump was correct to act even if his motive is questionable. The US pays the highest drug prices in the world. US drugs should not be cheaper in Canada, Mexico, or Europe than here.
I fail to see why Medicare, which can easily buy in bulk, should pay more than the lowest global price available.
If there are patient safety issues, then what about drugs sold in Canada?
People should not have to drive or fly over the border to get safe drugs at reasonable prices.
Patents ought to expire earlier as well.
Mr. Trump said he would meet Tuesday with drug executives to hear their proposals on how to cut costs. “Maybe they have an idea that’s good, but it’s got to be very substantial.”
I don’t care about motives, I care about policies and actions. These efforts make sense.
Mish
How about allowing imports from Columbia?
Importing antibiotics from China was all the political rage a few months back, guess we gonna double down on drug imports now. Reminds me of when the USPS was under political duress because of the annual 2b loss, that political fervor faded as well, USPS subsidies still continue. I will use cheapest prescriptions when and if needed and I still mail first class handwritten letters to family and friends. I guess the USPS is not really broke, unless you consider making money being broke. Big pharma must be broke, because they make too much money. For purple mountain majesties………
Is this why we now have headlines in Canada about drug shortages? I’m an asthmatic and that is not good news for me if I need to get more steroid and Ventolin inhalers.
Japanese Virology and Infectious Disease Research was featured on NHK Japan Documentary in March. I also am prescribed the Steroid Inhaler that promised when used in hospital trials with supplemental Oxygen was good enough to discharge without needing a Ventilator. I’ve not seen the study duplicated elsewhere. MedCram.com offers clinician Lectures on coronavirus for Free that are delivered by a cofounder UCLA Medical School MD Instructor and UCLA ER Clinician on the Frontlines..
America First!
Or is it
I’ll try to buy the senior vote!
I can’t what it is, it makes sense.
From a consumer perspective, this makes a lot of sense. One of the benefits we have in the UK to help lower the cost of drugs is NICE buying them on behalf of the entire country’s healthcare system. It has huge purchasing power. The downside of course is that not everybody gets what they need – they only get whats available. With the size of the US market, you have the potential to get the best of both worlds. It’s good to see – potentially – better competition and more value for US citizens.
“Potential is Forever” the Pawns of Gamesmanship, Fodder for Promises Broken.
We know a lot of drugs come from China. Could it be that the Chinese will soon stop exporting medicines to the US?
As long as Americans can afford to pay for them, the Chinese will continue selling them. No different from Colombians selling cocaine to Americans.
As long as Americans are free to demand, and have something to demand with, supply will take care of itself. “Deals”, like all entangling alliances, are for economically illiterate dumbeffs, and economically illiterate dumbefs only. They serve no purpose whatsoever, aside from facilitating incompetent, leeching Dear Leaders pretending their useless selves serve some sort of purpose.
If you followed the Chinese Shipping PPEs of American Chinese JV Manufacturers “made in China”, maybe you would know Chairman Xi had ordered the Cargo Ships carrying PPEs, Sanitizer and Medical Supplies to return to Ports in China, but Not Toilet Paper cause it’s produced in North America. The cameras on the Port Un-Loading Areas of Long Beach CA showed NO Chinese Super Cargo Ships by the first weeks in March. Hence, the Trump White House first made “Nice” with China, then Negotiated for PPEs and Biochemicals for Test Kits, finally after North American Sourcing had begun, many of the Chinese PPEs were counterfeited or failed to meet FDA Standards. Welcome to Chairman Xi’s China.
I fail to see why Medicare, which can easily buy in bulk, should pay more than the lowest global price available’
Note that VA admin is allowed to bargain with Big Pharma but NOT Medicare although both are Govt institutions! DUBYA made a specific law inorder to curry favor with Big Pharma!
Because congress and the FDA have rigged the system. Full stop. No real competition = exorbitant prices. It is called Fascism.
The best investment a big corporation can make is to buy a congressman
Or China via the Chao/McConnell marriage…
Waiting this long in his Presidency (stretching that noun) was purely for political reason. Clearly if he wasn’t just buying Sr votes he’d have done this long ago. HE HAS SAID HE WOULD FOR YEARS. Of course that too was just ANOTHER lie.
And why do you think McConnel is holding up unemployment benefits? B/e he wants to try and bridge the time from enactment to the elections. It’ll be expensive, and they may not be able to cover it all, so he’s stalling for time before enactment. Time many don’t have for his game.
He needs to talk to UK generic manufacturers. I know one generic company that exports a lot of its production to Africa because the margins are better than supplying the NHS.
This article is from 2003!!!
How is the “personal re-importation” any different now than then??
….But the disappointment, and for some the disgust, at having to spend two days on a bus to buy drugs was clear. The trip across northern Minnesota offered reminders of economic turmoil–the troubled mining industry and the upheaval involving paper mills. It provoked some talk about Congress promptly acting on President Bush’s request for $87 billion for Iraq and stalling on prescription drug reform.
Melvyn Pylka said he has grown tired of “seeing Wilford Brimley every 15 minutes on TV,” pitching prescription drugs. “You watch the 5:30 news, and all you see is drug ads. And pick up Reader’s Digest–it’s loaded with drug ads,” Pylka said.
The prescription drug industry spent $2.6 billion on advertising last year, according to TNS Media Intelligence/CMR, and spent $1.6 billion through June of this year. That’s less than what the auto companies spend but close to what the motion picture industry and computer-makers shell out. The September issue of Reader’s Digest contains 208 pages, 31 of which promote prescription drugs.
The Minnesota Senior Federation has organized six trips to Winnipeg this year. One more is scheduled for late October. The cost of the trips–the bus charter, meals for seniors and hotel accommodations–are paid by U.S. Sen. Mark Dayton (D-Minn.). Seniors with U.S. prescriptions are examined by Dr. Craig Hildahl, a Winnipeg family practice physician, who rewrites the prescriptions so they can be submitted to a Canadian pharmacy.
Seniors can get a three-month supply, which can be renewed by telephone or the Internet three times.
“To me, this does not ring to the American way,” said Hildahl, who has been treating Americans for three years. “We need to have a solution in the U.S. so seniors don’t have to come here. They [Congress] are spending too much time on reimportation laws when they need to deal with the issue of why prices are too high, what drives them up and how do we eliminate that cost.”
Peter Wyckoff, the executive director of the Minnesota Senior Federation Metropolitan Region, in St. Paul, said the issue goes beyond seniors to “what all Americans pay for prescription drugs, compared to world prices. Right now, seniors are paying the hardest part.”
Some flies in the ointment…
Trump backed away Friday from implementing a sweeping policy that would revive a long-stalled plan to cap U.S. drug prices based on what drug makers charge in foreign countries. Instead, he announced a one-month ultimatum for drug manufacturers to propose alternative plans to reduce drug prices.
“We’re going to hold that until August 24, hoping that the pharmaceutical companies will come up with something that will substantially reduce drug prices,” Trump said. “The clock starts right now.”
A second order issued Friday revives a previously abandoned plan that would eliminate the rebates drug makers pay to insurers. But it remains to be seen if the rebate rule will ever truly be implemented: The executive order released by White House includes a caveat that the plan cannot be implemented if it will raise premiums. The government’s own actuaries have estimated that the rebate rule would increase premiums by up to 25 percent.
It does appear, however, that the Trump administration is expanding its efforts to allow Americans to import medicines. Health Secretary Alex Azar told reporters Friday that the administration was now allowing personal importation, a phrase used to describe when individual consumers buy drugs from other countries. The executive order on importation appears to back up Azar’s comments. The order says HHS will facilitate “grants to individuals of waivers of the prohibition of importation of prescription drugs.”
The fourth order would force certain health centers to pass negotiated discounts on insulin and EpiPens to patients.
It’s unclear whether the effort to make progress on drug pricing will pay off, given that Trump can’t immediately enact any of the policies. Rather, the orders direct his administration to begin the normal, notoriously slow regulatory processes needed to reform the existing system. The administration will have to speed through that process to formalize any of the policies before November.
Azar, however, supplied little detail as to the timetable for implementing Trump’s announcements and how the administration would proceed.
“Today’s executive order makes clear that these are the policies of this administration,” Azar said. “These will happen; [Trump] has ordered them to happen.”
Even if the administration is successful in finalizing any of its plans before the election, they’re all likely to be challenged in court. The drug industry has already warned the Trump administration that they believe both the administration’s original importation plan and its international pricing plan are unconstitutional.
The industry will have an opportunity to respond directly to the plans next week. Trump announced he would welcome a group of pharmaceutical executives to the White House on Tuesday to discuss alternatives to his administration’s proposals, particularly the international pricing scheme.
Mish, it might be 4 years into his administration but he is way earlier than 8 years of Biden and Obama. Your sickness is worst than COVID.
This is an awesome poke in the eye to big pharma and the FDA and Congress that have colluded to keep drug costs high. The question is not should we allow imports, but why is the US drug market so warped by government regulation. Go Trump, for whatever motive.
Asides election BS, for millions this is a collapse. Losing jobs, homes, and healthcare. Now they can buy required scripts for less if they can afford them to begin with. I agree with doing this but the real motive is just an admission that we’re talking another step or two downward. If not 3 or 4.
A Start
“OK, but why nearly four years into your presidency?”
OK, but if it is really this easy, why didn’t Obama do this in his 8 years prior to Trump.
Maybe there are many more problems that could be solved by simply writing an executive order. Trump may have shown us a way to get around the lethargy of congress. Pressure the president to solve it.
Stupid solution.
Instead of “free-riding” off of other wealthy nations’ universal healthcare coverage schemes by importing drugs from them, we should import the best ideas from them regarding most efficient ways to provide universal coverage in America, to include access to reasonably priced medications that are available domestically.
ROLF- He’s doing the best they (the rest of our rulers) allow him to do. ‘resonably domestic?” Where does that come from????
The reason drugs are cheaper in some other countries is that they price cap and may also ration use. What US is unwilling to do. This change will not work in the way Trump thinks.
If a drug which costs $50 to overnight from India, costs $1200 there, and $15,000 here, the “reason” it is more expensive here, is patently, and very obviously, not that some scary hobgoblin in a scary land is “willing to do” what “the US” is “not willing to.”
Instead, it’s just plain, straight up lack of freedom for Americans. Plain and simple. No more to it, than that.
My wife used to take a chemo pill. 30 pills cost $15k in the US. In India, the exact same bottle cost $1200 USD.
Trump tried to lower prescription drug costs early in his term, but was shot down in congress. The pharmaceutical industry owns congress. Both sides of the aisle.
I am on some daily meds for a the various ailments that tend to haunt older people. My meds come from India! I buy them at the local Rx place, but they’re imported.
simply nailed it. Congrats, so, to reward you and ’cause this piece referenced Canada please be alerted to immediately go to this day’s ZeroHedge and scroll down to the article on Canada. You will thank me, after getting off the floor from rolling with laughter!
You are right on! If Obama had pushed this (I couldn’t stand him), I would have saluted him. Go Trump!!!
I have been importing inhalers from off shore for a few years. Was Illegal but very easy to do. Now even better
Given its Trump it will end up with higher prices and less important medicines.
Another notch on the win column you mean? Totally forgot about the winning part. ROFL.
Trump just did everyone who buys medicine a huge favor.
Wow- I’m old, really old. I remember listening to the radio about WW11 – This guy has done most of what he said than anyone I can remember, and with a little coop would have done more!!
Only 3.5 years late. Denninger has mentioned many times that CANDIDATE Trump had this on his campaign website and the morning after the election everything healthcare/pharma reform related disappeared. Apparently ‘our heroes’ in the healthcare swamp got to him. I’d bet there is some sort of deal behind the scenes.
That’s a good observation. I’ve always focused on how fast he dropped the “big fat ugly bubble” rhetoric to sprint in the opposite direction, but that wasn’t the only 180 degree turn after inauguration.
https://www.npr.org/2020/07/24/895290378/trump-signs-executive-orders-on-drug-prices :
“The Trump Administration has announced four executive orders to lower drug prices, but health policy experts say they will likely offer patients only minimal relief and may take months to implement, if they’re implemented at all.”
If Trump wins, God forbid, this executive order will bite the dust.
Take note: The new sought after covid 19 vaccine seems out of this picture. The vaccine industry is separate from the pharmaceutical industry in that the way of patient/industry relationship is done by arbitration with preset dollar amounts in damage awards. This is the area of Pharma he neglected. Let’s ask Trump: Expect crickets.
Even crickets can give you valuable data:
Finally, a policy that most of us can get behind. This could simply a campaign ploy though. Promise the moon, and once reelected forget that Canada even exists.
Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.
So far he has done or doing most of what he has said, more than I can say for most of our elected officials!!
It never make sense that Americans pay more than Canadians or Europeans, for the same drugs. Only competition will do the job.
But competition does the job specifically by squeezing out all those who don’t contribute anything valuable to the product. Hence squeezes out the purely leeching classes, which current day America is set up exclusively to enrich and empower.
Go Trump!
Maybe he has finally come around to recognizing that persistently doing the wrong thing, isn’t doing his poll numbers any favors. So he’s trying to something useful for a change, to see how that works.