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"Both actions recognize how
important affordable prescription drugs are to senior citizens and
working families across the nation, but there is still more work to
be done to ensure that all Americans have access to safe, affordable
medicine at the same affordable prices that the rest of the world
enjoys," Blagojevich wrote in his letter to the president. "As more
and more Americans support the concept of prescription drug
reimportation, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration still refuses
to re-evaluate its position and give U.S. citizens access to the
global marketplace. I urge you to reverse their position."
A poll conducted by the Wall Street Journal on Sept. 15 showed
that 80 percent of Americans support allowing people to import
prescription drugs, and four out of five Americans agree that the
law banning pharmaceutical imports is intended to protect drug
companies' profits.
Blagojevich wrote: "For decades, pharmaceutical companies have
put the squeeze on consumers across the United States by making them
pay the highest prices in the world for prescription drugs. There is
no excuse for putting people's health at risk just to protect drug
companies' profit margins. While halting the seizures of medicine
from Canada is a good start, by keeping the global marketplace
closed to American consumers, the FDA is still forcing most
consumers to pay artificially high prices for prescription drugs
purchased here in the United States."
In October 2004, Blagojevich launched the
I-SaveRx drug
importation program to provide Illinoisans a safe and affordable way
to purchase many of the most common name-brand prescription drugs
from pharmacies in Canada and Europe, where they cost up to 70
percent less. The program is available and intended for senior
citizens and the uninsured. It covers the citizens of Illinois,
Kansas, Wisconsin, Missouri and Vermont.
"In Illinois, we created I-Save Rx to help consumers save 25-80
percent on the cost of safe, name-brand prescription medications
purchased from approved pharmacies in Canada, the United Kingdom,
Australia and New Zealand," Blagojevich wrote. "We know that the FDA
has seized and tested approximately 1 percent of the prescription
drugs imported through I-Save Rx and has never found fault with any
of the medications."
In September 2006, the governor announced an I-SaveRx program
expansion, which will be in operation by spring 2007. The expansion
will allow Illinois to reduce its annual prescription drug costs and
reduce, and sometimes even eliminate, co-payments for state
employees and dependents.
Currently, participants in the state's health insurance programs
pay anywhere between $20 and $80 in co-payments for brand-name
prescription drugs, depending on whether the drug is on the state's
formulary. If the prescription is for a maintenance drug, patients
are allowed only two retail fills; then they are required to use
mail-order, or else they must pay $40 retail for a formulary drug
and $80 retail for nonformulary. The co-pay for mail-order is lower:
$40 for a three-month supply of a formulary drug and $80 for a
three-month supply of a nonformulary drug.
The expanded program for employees will be voluntary. Employees
who choose to fill eligible prescriptions through I-SaveRx will pay
a reduced co-payment, or no co-payment at all.
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Over the last five years, Illinois has seen its prescription drug
costs increase by an average of 15 percent per year, far outpacing
the cost of Medicaid, which increased in fiscal 2006 by just 1.4
percent -- the sixth-lowest increase in the nation. The same
prescription drugs that are sold in the United States are available
at prices up to 70 percent cheaper outside the United States. For
example, Prevacid, a name-brand medication used to treat heartburn
and acid reflux, costs 64 percent less in Australia than in the
U.S., 55 percent less in the United Kingdom and 44 percent less in
Canada.
Below is the text of the governor's letter to President Bush:
Dear Mr. President:
I am writing today to applaud the
federal government for its decision to stop seizing prescription
medications mailed from Canada, and for approving the Homeland
Security spending bill that allows citizens to bring up to 90-day
supplies of prescribed medicines home from Canada.
Both actions recognize how important
affordable prescription drugs are to senior citizens and working
families across the nation, but there is still more work to be done
to ensure that all Americans have access to safe, affordable
medicine at the same affordable prices that the rest of the world
enjoys. As more and more Americans support the concept of
prescription drug reimportation, the U.S. Food and Drug
Administration (FDA) still refuses to re-evaluate its position and
give U.S. citizens access to the global marketplace. I urge you to
reverse their position.
For decades, pharmaceutical companies
have put the squeeze on consumers across the United States by making
them pay the highest prices in the world for prescription drugs.
There is no excuse for putting people's health at risk just to
protect drug companies' profit margins. While halting the seizures
of medicine from Canada is a good start, by keeping the global
marketplace closed to American consumers, the FDA is still forcing
most consumers to pay artificially high prices for prescription
drugs purchased … [here in] the United States.
In Illinois, we created I-Save Rx to
help consumers save 25-80% percent on the cost of safe, name-brand
prescription medications purchased from approved pharmacies in
Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand. We know that
the FDA has seized and tested approximately 1% of the prescription
drugs imported through I-Save Rx and has never found fault with any
of the medications.
For the past four years, the federal
government has consistently sided with the drug manufacturers in
keeping the marketplace closed and forcing consumers to pay
artificially high prices. Now, we've reached a turning point by
stopping the seizure of safe medication, but we can do even more. It
is time for the FDA catch up with the rest of the world, reanalyze
their position, and ensure that Americans have full access to the
competitive global marketplace for prescription drugs.
Sincerely,
Rod R. Blagojevich
Governor
[News release from the governor's
office] |
