Minnesota State employees will get prescription drugs free from Canada
The drugs included in this plan are 45 of the most popular prescription brand names for which there are no generics available. The savings could amount to about $1.4 million per year. Prescription drugs in Canada are much cheaper than they are in the USA. In fact, prescription drugs are cheaper everywhere when compared to USA prices.
The number of people who will be eligible will total around 120,000. This will include state civil servants and their families (direct dependants). Shipping fees will be covered by the state, along with the $15 monthly co-payments that are required for each prescription if employees buy their medicines from U.S. pharmacists.
Tim Pawlentry said that he hoped this new program would not bring about a crackdown by the federal authorities regarding drug imports. He added that the federal government does not usually prosecute people who import prescription drugs for personal use (but it is illegal to buy drugs from abroad in the USA).
Canadian prescription drugs can cost up to 50% less than they do in the USA. The Canadian authorities are stricter about price abuse by drug companies than they are in the USA. The FDA says that consumers are taking a risk, as it cannot guarantee the quality of imported drugs. However, hardly anyone has suffered badly as a direct result of importing drugs from Canada.
The FDA says it is examining this new program but plans no immediate response. A spokesman for the FDA said he would not personally risk his life for cheaper prices. This is a strange comment - Canadian pharmacy standards are among the best in the world.
Employees are expected to make savings of about $180 per year for each medication while the state would save about $208. They expect about 3,000 people to use the program initially (during its first year).
Some states in the USA are raising their stakes in challenging the federal authorities regarding drug imports, mainly from Canada. Earlier on in the year the state of Minnesota put up a web site directing residents to licensed Canadian pharmacies that had been inspected by state officials. New Hampshire and Wisconsin have also done the same.
Minnesota will be the first state in the USA that offers a program of free prescriptions to all of its employees.
Many people in the USA believe there is a protection racket going on in America. The pharmaceutical industry, they say, is being protected by the government, which is helping them keep their prices up. The consumers are being squeezed and they are beginning to vote with their pockets. Hundreds of thousands' and soon, possibly millions of American prescription drug purchasers are flouting the laws of the land and buying their drugs from abroad. The authorities are beating their chests with declarations of quality control problems. However, as the number of normally law-abiding people buying from abroad grows, the sabre rattling is beginning to sound rather hollow. Now, even state governments are joining in on the showdown. As one American health professional told me last week 'As the elections draw near the government has to decide whether the voters are more important than the lobbyists.'
Written by the Editor of Start Sanatate, UK.
Minnesota membru angajaþii vor beneficia de medicamente prescrise gratuit din Canada - Minnesota State employees will get prescription drugs free from Canada - articole medicale engleza - startsanatate