BOSCOLA CALLS FOR STUDY ON COST AND IMPORTATION OF PRESCRIPTION DRUGS

BETHLEHEM (Mar 11) – State Senator Lisa M. Boscola wants an independent state agency to calculate how much money Pennsylvania residents could save by importing drugs from Canada.

Other states are already looking to import less-expensive drugs from other countries that are medically equivalent to those sold in the United States, she said.  One state in particular, Illinois, already has a program to import prescription drugs from Canada, Ireland, and the United Kingdom.

“The cost of prescription drugs continues to rise far beyond the ability of Older Pennsylvanians to afford them,” Boscola said.  “Seniors have been especially hard hit by these increases and it’s time we do something about it.  While our retirees receive a small COLA of 1 or 2 percent each year, the prices for their medicines keep going up by 10 to 15 percent a year.” 

Cheaper drugs would also mean significant savings for Pennsylvania’s PACE Program, she said.  PACE uses funds generated by the State Lottery to pay for drugs that qualified seniors can purchase for a modest co-pay.

Lower-priced drugs would allow lawmakers to expand the PACE program to serve more Older Pennsylvanians, which is something that Boscola has been fighting for in the State Senate.

“In some cases, brand-name drugs cost 50 percent less in other countries than they do in the United States,” Boscola said. “But even a 10-percent savings would be a huge amount of money for the PACE Program.  Instead of spending State funds to increase the profits of the big pharmaceutical companies, we could spend that money to help more seniors afford the medicine they need. 

Drug prices are also the biggest cause of rising health care costs in Pennsylvania, according to Boscola.  Making less-expensive drugs available to health care plans operating in Pennsylvania would relieve some of the job-crushing costs that small businesses now must bear.

“Lower drug prices will benefit all Pennsylvanians,” Boscola said.  “Our Commonwealth should not sit back while other states actively pursue alternatives to the monopoly pricing schemes of the big drug companies.”

Senator Boscola’s resolution calls for the Joint State Government Commission to analyze federal barriers to drug importation and to report its findings and recommendations to the Senate no later than June 30, 2006.

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