Cost of medicines from Canada set to soar for millions of Americans
Category: News & Politics
Via: hallux • one month ago • 14 commentsBy: Fatima Hussein - The Canadian Press & Global News
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
Millions of Americans who buy cheap drugs from Canada could soon lose access when a customs rule goes into effect later this month, a change that has sparked opposition from Democrats and some Republicans with the cost of living a top issue for voters ahead of midterm elections.
“The issue is a matter of life and death for me,” said Susan Hooper, a 75-year-old Toledo, Ohio, resident who has been on oxygen for 14 years and takes two daily medications purchased through a Canadian pharmacy that are not available in the U.S.
The U.S. Customs and Border Protection rule targets the de minimis exemption, which previously allowed shipments valued under $800 to pass through customs more easily. As of Oct. 22, that exemption will be indefinitely suspended, and medications mailed from outside the U.S. will require additional data and a bond guarantee.
The rule puts added fees and registration requirements on low-value shipments that previously entered the U.S. duty-free — on everything from textiles to toys — but the people who could see the most significant impacts are those who buy their cheap drugs from across the border.
And while the rule doesn’t specifically target Canadian drugs — it applies to international mail generally — the practical consequence could be delays, refusals or substantially more difficulty getting their medications delivered.
Roughly 2.3 million Americans buy their drugs abroad, according to a 2020 study by JAMA Network.
Trump has put drug prices at the center of his healthcare strategy
The Trump administration has made lowering drug prices a priority in its bid to show Americans that it is tackling soaring costs. Trump, a Republican, has struck multiple most-favoured-nation drug deals with pharmaceutical firms and has launched the discounted-drug website TrumpRx, among other steps.
Federal data from this summer showed that U.S. prescription drug prices were down 3.1% from a year ago, the steepest year-over-year drop since 1963. Trump has sought to take credit for the steep decline, but the real picture is more complicated, and experts say factors beyond the president’s policies likely contributed more to the drop.
Advocates say the rule will hurt patients seeking affordable medicine.
Ken Hunter, executive director of the Campaign for Personal Prescription Importation, which advocates on behalf of Americans who access the Canadian drugs, said those who have enjoyed the lower drug prices from across the northern border may not benefit from Trump’s drug pricing moves.
“There has been a lot of talk of lowering drug prices, but in many cases it doesn’t cover all drugs for all people for all conditions,” he said.
Hunter warned that costs will explode for some medications after his organization conducted a study in August looking at 10 of the most commonly prescribed medications imported from Canada.
He cited Eliquis, a prescription blood thinner used to prevent and treat dangerous blood clots. A three-month supply of 180 5-mg pills would cost $565 from a mail-order Canadian pharmacy. The same medication would cost roughly $1,017 from Amazon’s pharmacy arm or $1,029 from GoodRx.
“I’ve had so many of our members calling me and telling me, ‘I don’t know what I’m going to do,’” Hunter said. “We really need someone to step forward and say, ‘We really need this to stop.’”
Allison Schuster, a White House spokesperson, said in a statement that Trump “remains dedicated to lowering the cost of prescription drugs,” citing the most-favoured-nation deals.
“The Trump administration continues working to ensure Americans have access to low-cost pharmaceuticals across the board,” Schuster said.
Democrats and some Republicans express concern
The Trump administration could drop the rule, alter it or decide not to enforce it. Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have demanded answers to how the administration will protect access to affordable care for people who get their drugs from over the border.
Three Florida Republican members of Congress wrote to the administration last month expressing concern about how the rule would impact their constituents, who, unlike residents of border states, are unable to easily travel to Canada to buy the drugs.
Florida has separately crafted a Canadian prescription drug importation program with authorization from the federal government, but that initiative has stalled.
Customs and Border Protection and the Food and Drug Administration “must ensure that Floridians simply seeking relief from high drug prices will not be inadvertently impacted by the rule,” said the letter signed by Florida Reps. Aaron Bean, Gus M. Bilirakis and C. Scott Franklin.
A group of more than 70 Democrats last week sent a letter to health and immigration enforcement officials, asking them to pause the new rule unless they could provide assurances that prescription medicines meant for personal use would be able to enter the U.S.
“Americans should not lose access to affordable medicines simply because the government has better information about packages entering the country,” the letter said.
Representatives from CBP did not respond to requests for comment.
Patients say tariffs have already raised their prices
Hooper, who has serious drug allergies, said her medications have already increased in price since the Trump administration imposed additional tariffs on Canada in August.
She says Theophylline, a medication that relaxes her airways and is bought in Canada, used to cost $85 with shipping. It now costs $141 because of tariffs. And her Foradil bronchodilator for asthma, which used to cost $151, now costs $273.
Hooper said she will find a way to manage through the change. Until then, she said, she’s been in a rush to stockpile.
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Eliquis, a prescription blood thinner used to prevent and treat dangerous blood clots. A three-month supply of 180 5-mg pills would cost $565 from a mail-order Canadian pharmacy. The same medication would cost roughly $1,017 from Amazon’s pharmacy arm or $1,029 from GoodRx.
Yikes, 180 5-mg Eliquis pills costs me $150. Kill the middle man!
I think the government should pay for all necessary drugs. The poorest people can get the drugs for free through government assistance. The upper middle class and up can afford to pay for them. In-between there are people who seriously cannot afford 400 dollars a month for one drug.
In Canada, a Canadian senior citizen, by paying an annual registration fee of $100 at a pharmacy, gets his prescriptions filled for a mere dispensing fee, no matter how expensive those drugs can be. That's what it was like for me before I left Canada.
In those good-ole days Coumadin aka Warfarin (aka rat poison) was proscribed over Eliquis due to costs. That changed to Eliquis when I developed a sub-dural Brain bleed on Coumadin that 3 weeks in ICU along with 3 weeks in rehab must of cost a small fortune the Gov't no longer wanted to shell out for.
In Dec 2021 I had a heart attack and heart failure. I was in cardiac ICU for a couple weeks and in the hospital for 23 days. The hospital bill was over 400,000 dollars. Good thing I was over 65.
But... But... That's SOCIALISM !!!!
Jealousy will get you nowhere.
Medicare Part D plans up and around our area have gone non-commissionable for agents, and all the out of pocket costs have gone way up. Many of the higher cost drugs have been completely disappeared from formularies and the generic equivalents are going to be difficult to find at pharmacies.
Morning..how to bump off your fellow citizens without really looking like you are doing it..
Trumpet put tariffs on medications manufactured here and we export to the US...he didn't like our PBS system and thought it was terrible...we told him to "f off"....hence you mob now pay more for them...crazy...
$7.70 for scripts here if on a pension etc and the safety net of $277....if that amount is reached through the year then it's free for the rest of the year..
In my case medication $20,000 a month and where was it manufactured... USA...
But it was free for me as it is on our PBS and all the other treatments I have had must be close to $500,000 has not cost me a cent... wonder how much it would be in the States.. wouldn't matter anyway as I would be cactus by now...
... we couldn't afford tax cuts for the wealthy and illegal wars then. it's cheaper for maga xtians just to let the sick cark it ...
America first! Wait, what?
My cousin's husband had multiple myeloma, too, and I imagine your drug regimens are pretty similar. He regularly reached his out-of-pocket max for the year in January. After reaching that, which was I think about $15,000, his insurance paid for all of his medications. But January was always a tough month for them financially. They both still worked (well, he did when he could), and they lived very cheaply - owned an older house, heated with a woodstove and didn't have any other source of heat, cut their own firewood, rarely traveled or ate out, and family still had to help them, or they'd have starved.
Morning Sandy..I don't have health insurance I did have but was no advantage for me to have it..being in a regional area I do have ambulance cover though which in my opinion is more important..$70 a year for that and it covers you Australia wide no matter where you..
So if you have health insurance or not doesn't make a huge difference other maybe getting an op faster is really about it..
I have had no problems in the regard either and have had ops done faster than my rellies who do have health insurance..with health insurance the usual wait is around 6 weeks unless life threatening..no waiting then..
I really can't imagine being in your health system and how it works and the costs etc..it must create alot of fear for people who are informed when they are seriously ill and wonder how do they pay for it etc..
It does. Fundraisers for families facing serious illnesses are a pretty regular thing here.
how do those major points of that presidential oath of office go again ...