White paper
Personal Importation of Prescription Drugs
A right for patients. A solution for health plans.
Chapter 1
US drug prices are uniquely high
On September 2019, the House Ways and Means Committee published a study highlighting the magnitude of the drug price problem, illustrated in the table below: drug list prices are 3 to 6 times more expensive in the US, compared to a selection of developed countries!
Chapter 2
A public health crisis
It then comes with no surprise that prescription drug prices have become an issue for many Americans and a clear Public Health Issue, as many studies have put into light.
Chapter 3
Personal drug importation
For these reasons, many Americans have for decades been buying prescription drugs from Canada for personal use —either by driving over the border, ordering medication on the internet or using storefronts that connect them to foreign pharmacies.
In one of its surveys KHNfound that about 4 million Americans import medicines for personal use each year, and close to 20 million say they or someone in their household has done so because prices are much lower in other countries.
And today numerous cities, counties and school districts, as well as private employers, assist employees with these transactions.
Chapter 4
Our international mail-order program in practice
Our partner is an experienced Canadian pharmacist who has been helping mostly American patients since 2003. They have built a network covering several other countries, in Europe and other parts of the world. Depending on how comfortable plan administrators and plan members are with importing from foreign countries, the program allows to limit sourcing to Canada only.
