Health reform stifles lower drug prices

By Free Press Editor Joe Spear

When does Congress thwart the will of the people in health care reform? When politics is more important than say something like lower drug prices.

One key proposal in health care reform that through the years has garnered bipartisan support is being stymied by political considerations. Allowing for imports of safe prescription drugs has been a proposal that has been approved by Democrats and Republicans alike for at least 15 years.

It always runs into an administration, first Clinton White House, then W. Bush White House, that set up the "poison pill" a bureaucratic procedure that allows White Houses to thwart the will of Congress, and quite frankly, the people.

After Congress has passed import legislation, administrations have bottled it up by requiring overly stringent and bureaucratic rules for importation that all agree effectively limit it. These administration efforts are bolstered by parts of the legislation, usually added by some opponent of importation, that require administration to "guarantee safety" of imported drugs.

The administrations, with a wink and a nod, always says, they can't "guarantee" such a requirement and it would require lots of costs and bureaucracy to do this. It's also a provision that does not apply to drugs made in the U.S. Figure that one out.

And, the drug re-imported are just as safe as anything made in the U.S., in fact, some come from U.S. factories, are sold to Canada and then re-imported. And we say we can't "guarantee" their safety. That's an argument that doesn't fly.

The re-importation language was a stumbling block as of early December, according to the Los Angeles Times. Had it been approved, health reform may have lost the support of the pharmaceutical industry. Even though Obama supported it in principle, he feared it would undercut pharmaceutical companies support for overall health care reform.

Too bad. Re-importation makes a lot of sense, and it has for years. It will lower costs of health care, something badly needed in any reform measure.

Here's a case where politics is thwarting the will of the people.