States push feds to OK drug importation plans

On Dec. 5, Colorado became at least the fourth state to seek federal permission to use the strategy, following Florida, New Hampshire and New Mexico.

President Joe Biden has endorsed the approach, but his administration has yet to greenlight a state plan.

“States have done the work, and the only thing preventing them from going ahead is the Biden administration,” said Jane Horvath, a health policy consultant who has worked with states on importation plans.

Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra told KHN on Dec. 5 that the Biden administration welcomed applications for drug importation programs from Colorado and other states. But he would not pledge that the FDA would rule on any application in 2023.

Asked what his message was to states, he said: “Sign up and submit an application, and we will take a look and see if you are able to get through the process.”

Buyers in the United States pay among the highest prices in the world for brand-name pharmaceuticals. Drugs are generally less expensive in neighboring Canada, where the government controls prices.

Under President Donald Trump, the U.S. government declared that importing drugs from Canada could be done safely — satisfying a condition spelled out in a 2003 federal drug importation law. The Trump administration finalized rules in September 2020 for states to apply.

During his campaign for the White House, Biden said he would allow consumers to import prescription drugs from other countries if the federal government certified those drugs as safe.

After Biden took office in 2021, he ordered the FDA to work with states to import prescription drugs from Canada. In a speech last year about how he was going to reduce drug prices, he cited…