U.S. Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) recently joined a bipartisan group of colleagues who requested that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) support policies allowing Americans to personally import certain prescription drugs from Canada.
“Americans, on average, pay the highest prescription drug prices in the world and are struggling to afford the medications they need,” the senators wrote in a July 26 letter sent to HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra. “Last year, one in three Americans saw their out-of-pocket medication costs increase, and that has real consequences.”
Sen. Collins and her colleagues, who included U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), noted in their letter that almost 30 percent of adults report not taking their medicines as prescribed because of the cost, according to her office.
The senators wrote that “Americans should be able to obtain affordable medications, and expanding access to safe and affordable drugs in Canada can make a difference by providing direct relief to the millions of Americans who are struggling to afford the increasing cost of prescription drugs.”
Sen. Collins on Feb. 4 cosponsored the bipartisan, bicameral Safe and Affordable Drugs from Canada Act of 2021, S. 259, with bill sponsor Sen. Klobuchar to require the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to allow for the personal importation of prescription drugs from Canada in certain instances, according to the congressional record bill summary.
U.S. Reps. Jaime Herrera Beutler (R-WA) and Chellie Pingree (D-ME) on the same day introduced the companion bill, H.R. 832, in their chamber. Both bills remain under committee consideration.