Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill Tuesday to allow prescription drug importation into the state, defying GOP orthodoxy to address the high prices of pharmaceuticals.
“This will have the potential to save the state a lot of money,” he said, according to the Miami Herald, speaking to supporters assembled for the bill signing at the Villages, one of Florida’s largest retirement communities. “I’m just glad that we’re here today and able to say we’re listening to the people who have concerns about these costs, and we’re taking action to help get people relief.”
The bill passed in the GOP-led Florida House April 29 with a final vote of 93-20.
The importation program calls for the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration to choose Canadian wholesalers and license them to export specific, high-cost drugs approved by the Food and Drug Administration to Florida. The Florida Agency for Health Care Administration will work alongside state health agencies and the federal government to assemble the program, with final approval from Health and Human Services. Once approved, cheaper imported medications will be dispensed by local pharmacies to any Floridian with a prescription.
An HHS sign-off isn’t guaranteed. Secretary Alex Azar has called drug importation an ineffective “gimmick” in the past. Nevertheless, DeSantis has said more than once that President Trump is in his corner. A spokesman for the governor said in April that “President Trump encouraged Gov. DeSantis to proceed with this initiative.”
“One of the biggest drivers of this country’s out-of-control healthcare spending is the cost of prescription drugs,” DeSantis said when he announced the plan in February, also at the Villages. “While our prices remain high, our neighbors in Canada are spending significantly less for the same drugs.”
Opponents of the plan, including Azar, say importing drugs from Canada would do little to lower drug costs as the Canadian pharmaceutical industry is smaller than that of the U.S.
Douglas Holtz-Eakin, president of the conservative think tank the American Action Forum and an adviser to John McCain’s 2008 presidential campaign said in April, “Importation won’t work … The notion that Canada will send back all of the drugs it authorized for themselves — they’re not going to let them get away. It makes no sense.”
The most vocal opponents, however, are U.S. pharmaceutical companies, which produced ads in Florida showing the dangers of importing prescription drugs and lobbied against what they say would be putting patients at risk of receiving unsafe drugs.
In response to criticism, DeSantis said that only FDA-approved drugs can be imported and only from FDA-approved suppliers.
Florida follows the passage of Vermont’s drug importation plan last year, but that plan has not yet been approved by HHS. DeSantis says he is optimistic that, with Trump’s help, the program will be implemented.
