At least one elected representative of the state of Maine is doing something useful that will actually help Mainers save money!

Cheaper in Canada, eh? Go figure. Hopefully Canada will ban these anti-capitalist exports.

Wonderful! It is great to open the paper and find good news for a change. See what can be accomplished when we work together?

ya right, i will believe it when it happens. the politicians don't do any thing for the public unless it does something for there pockets. this wont go any wheres cause once the lobbyist get hold of it they will line the the bill supporters with goodies and it will stop there..

I agree with the imports. Give these American companies alittle competition...hopefully bring down prices.

On a second note ..a few weeks ago the vitamin B-6 was labeled as a pharmacutical. In other words, it will be only a matter of time before you can only get this vitamin with a prescription. In Canada, all vitamins are certified and labeled. In other words, if the companies say something is in the vitamin it has to be in the vitamin. Dosages and ingredients have to be correct. Their vitamins are not considered pharmacuticals. Don't need a prescription to get vitamins in Canada. For many years the prescription industry in the US has tried to classify vitamins as a pharmacutical. They know there is big money to be made if that would happen. Many meds you see as a prescription drug in the US is not in Canada. When Claritin came out in the US as a prescrition drug, you could buy it without a presription in Canada for cheaper.

this bill would be way to helpful for for us so of course they won't pass it. i need alot of meds due to my illness and all my money goes to the pharmacy so please for once do something for the people who need it the most, the sick and disabled who could very much benifit from this.

We want imports of Canadian drugs but we don't want imports of Canadian lumber. We can pick and choose right?

From a mother that just spent more than $130 on her child's medicine in just two days..... THIS IS WONDERFUL NEWS!!!

funny we already import drugs from other countries just ck out oxiconton restricted by dea news story so of course the big pharma cos are going to fight to stop this they will cry we are losing money so we will see how our gov reacts

Terrible news, you think the drug companies will continue to dump billions of dollars into R&D Marketing development if there is no reward. Short term gain, long term loss for all young and old.

Export and then re-import the drugs that are produced here. Man we are suckers. Single-payer healthcare now!

irv4me, what is wrong with this picture? We can export the drugs and re-import them and still save money. If a Medicare patient goes to the Emergency Room, any medication given in pill form is not covered (any medication that can be self-administered, regardless of whether you may not have a presecription!!) By federal law, medical facilities are not allowed to offer a lower price to non-Mediare patients so the price has been driven up for those who don't have coverage at all. I am disabled and on Social Security but I apparantly have too much money for my kids to be covered by Mainecare. Because of my condition, I had to buy an MA plan that would cover meds in the hospital. For my kids prescriptions, I try to use the Wal-Mart four dollar prescriptions, and for those not on the list the local pharmacy allows me to charge their meds and pay it off monthly.

Then for those on Medicare, there is the dreaded gap. My best friend's brother hit the gap and could not afford his insulin. That cost him his life. When will enough be enough?

I am not opposed to pharmaceutical companies making a profit, but only American's pay for the R&D. Other countries pay significantly less. Why not divide the costs among all who reap the benefits?

After the Heperin scandal it was reported that 80% of the components of drugs sold in America were imported. So much for the drug companies safety concerns.

Is this whole thing screwed up or is it just me? Could someone please help me understand how allowing other countries to import their foreign products to our country to save the consumer money is better than challenging / making / enforcing our own drug markets and businesses to provide the same medications and products at the same lower prices. And I do realize that these others obviously must be making the same product cheaper thus the cheaper prices, but craziness!...And we have seen first hand the negligence in safety of many imported products thru the years. Sen. Snow states It is “absolutely unconscionable” that high drug costs have forced patients to ration their prescriptions", yet we allow these interests to continue to ravage & rape the American consumer with with their higher prices and do nothing. Were is the hope of more jobs, less taxes, more moderation in prices so a family can afford to live?...We lay claim that America is the best, but it seems we are the best at screwing up the lives of our own...

PabMainer, our drug companies are the very essence the capitalist market. All of the larger pharmaceutical companies are public companies and turning a profit for their stockholders is a priority. In theory, this should be a good thing, but sometimes in practice, greed gets in the way. Other countries have import laws that reduce the price companies can charge for their product. So guess who picks up the difference? The American public. There are countries who make their own, and yes, their are quality control issues. I was on one heart med that was not allowed to substituted for generic for that reason. I was working and had insurance at the time that covered that cost and it was costly. I have been disabled since I had a second heart attack followed by a stroke and I will be on medication for the rest of my life. I have stated in other forums that I am a widow with young teens. I plan to be around to annoy them in their old age, so I have to do whatever it takes to stay healthy. I have actually priced all of my medications in Canadian pharmacies, but the savings have been little enough for me to make it not worth the trouble. But

are some other medications out there that people need and not having coverage they have to do what they have to do to get their meds and keep their homes etc.

How may ads have you see for reverse mortgages? This is a market for people who have to give up their homes just so they can stay alive. This is where a lot of seniors get the money for prescriptions. People who do not have to RELY on medicines to keep them alive don't necessarily understand it.

Make Canada and all countries pay instead of stealing the formulas from the American companies and slaping a generic label on it and rubbing it in our face oh it only cost 2 cents to make, no crap now that you have the billion dollar formula, ya thief.

Where does Canada get their drugs? CHINA by any chance?

rausgurl...sorry I did not get back into the postings last night...great comments and I agree...it used to be that the opportunities for capitalism and entrepreneurship were available to even the most common of us...A family business passed down thru generations, individuals being able to start their own business and make a go of it, community based businesses, farming locally and being able to get appropriate monies for your products, paper industry, fishing industry, etc. but now these corporate giants have consumed our monies and properties and our very worth is tied up in their lack of commen sense and over spending and they continue to suck the life out of the American economy. Enron, Fanny-Mae, AIG, GM, and on it goes....where it will end only God knows. Our ability to be a free enterprise system and invest in something and make it's worth increase is totally stalled at this point and having our gov't wanting to extend privilege to foreign companies to import their products to me is acinine...and the President has not even had the chance yet to direct efforts and time to healthcare, and as you we all are struggling with health insurance costs, greater out of pocket expense and increased costs for medications and essential medical needs...crazy!

It's quite interesting that so many people commenting have no idea of the global nature of the pharmaceutical business. First, most of it isn't "American", it's European.

The reason Americans pay more than Canadians for the same (as in branded, non-generic) drug is that Canada has nationalized medical care and the provinces deal directly with the drug producers and negotiate volume prices. Cut out the middle man. In addition, they also can bargain quite hard since without their approval, the drug won't be sold at all.

To a certain extent, the manufacturers can afford to do this because Canada's population is one-tenth that of the US, so taking reduced profits there (you can be sure they don't *lose* money) is still worthwhile when you look at the North American business as a whole. I suspect that the Canadian government will quietly restrict foreign access to prescription drugs to maintain this advantage. Sen. Snowe's worthwhile effort is essentially a diversion - focusing attention on the disparity in drug pricing (much a result of those Fat Cat middle men).

Funded by Americans 401ks and stock, and consumed most by Americans at the highest prices, Americans get the gold, wikipedia has US as number 1, I may not be in this business but Americans are carrying the rest of the world its time they pay up so our people can get a little relief.

Producers, not consumers

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_pharmaceutical_companies