Trump Plan Would Allow States To Buy Cheaper Prescription Drugs From Canada

On Wednesday, the Trump administration announced a plan that could very well prove to be a huge boost to Medicare – despite Republicans’ strong opposition to programs like the Affordable Care Act and Medicare For All. It could also prove key to success for Trump’s reelection campaign.

President Donald Trump has recently made a significant push to lower the cost of prescription drugs ahead of the 2020 presidential election. As a result, a new plan drafted by the White House will allow the import of affordable medication from Canada.

Under this plan, various major prescription buyers – including states and pharmacy companies – would be able to acquire medications at vastly lower costs from the United States’ northern neighbor. Perhaps even more importantly, it would likely have the effect of lowering the expenses related to various states’ Medicare programs and allow them to use Canadian drug prices as a guide for prescription costs.

While these types of changes have long been opposed by Republicans, Trump is poised to make good on his intent to cut drug costs. Although the details of the newly announced plan – including when it may be implemented – are still being hammered out by Heath and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar, the White House said they are “moving as quickly as we possibly can.”

Part of this process will rely on state-by-state discussions about how each will import prescription drugs from Canada. As such, Azar said, he was hesitant to present numbers on the savings the plan will pass on to health care.

The government in Canada is not likely to be as enthusiastic about this new plan. Commenting on similar proposals in the past, Canada has said that its pharmaceutical industry is not positioned to begin supplying such a vast market and worries that Canadians will have to grapple with drug shortages as a result.

If the Trump administration is able to enact this plan before next fall, it could prove to be a huge boost for him at the polls. This would be especially true in key states like Florida, where Republican leadership has already requested permission to import prescriptions from Canada.

However, the plan must first survive the legal protests that will undoubtedly come from U.S. pharmaceutical companies.