I watch the debate about drugs from Canada with a great deal of personal interest. Three years ago, when I was in between jobs, I was paying exorbitant rates for a non-group insurance plan that didn't include any drug benefit. And I had a drug that I needed to take on a continuous basis. The first time I went to fill a prescription at a local pharmacy, I was astonished to find the cost would be over $110/month. So I said, wait a minute, and started investigating online Canadian pharmacies. Found one that seemed to be legitimate, where the same drug was something like $40/month. Needless to say, I ordered from them.

My understanding is that the reason drugs are cheaper in Canada (and certain other countries) is because they have a government health plan that negotiates the rates. These lower rates are essentially subsidized by the higher prices in the United States. As long as small individual consumers occasionally bought drugs via Canadian channels, it was not worth noticing. But it seems to me that as soon as there is some sort of official government program to buy drugs in Canada (as some states have proposed), then things are bound break down in some way. If the drug companies have negotiated lower rates for sales in Canada, it doesn't seem like they are just going to stand by and let them get extended to large markets in the US. It will be interesting to see what happens...

Comments

[Gary Farber]

Crap.

[Gary Farber]

Whoops. Sorry, that was supposed to go under your post about Harry Stubbs.

[Leslie Turek]

Yeah, when it came through in email I figured that's what you were responding to. I don't know how to move comments, so feel free to add another in the right place. My sentiments exactly.