DENVER — Even though it would require a federal waiver that no state has yet received, the Colorado House gave its preliminary nod Wednesday to a bill aimed at importing prescription drugs from Canada as a way to drive down costs to patients.Â
Senate Bill 5, a measure that Gov. Jared Polis said he supports, calls on the Colorado Department of Health Care Policy and Financing to file for a federal waiver to be allowed to make drugs from Canada, which are less expensive than the same drugs sold in the United States, available to any Coloradan.Â
It's House sponsor, Rep. Sonya Jaquez Lewis, D-Boulder, said states need to try to do something with drug prices because Congress has done nothing.Â
"As a pharmacist, I know there are many Coloradans who are having to choose between feeding their families or the life-saving drugs they depend on," Jaquez Lewis said. "We've seen drug price increases of nearly 500 percent that are drowning patients. The ability to import prescription drugs from Canada will help lower the cost of health care for hardworking families."
Under the bill, the department is to create a program for how the sale of Canada drugs would be imported and purchased by Colorado consumers, and ask the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services for permission to import them.
Currently, five other states, including Utah, have or are considering similar programs. To date, none have been approved.
In creating a program, the department is to contract with one or more wholesale suppliers for at least three years. Those vendors are then to identify the types of drugs that would provide the most cost savings, and identify that the Canada suppliers they want to use meet legal and safety requirements. The identified drugs, however, must already meet U.S. standards for safety and effectiveness, and ensure they do not violate federal patent laws.
The bill requires a final House vote, but will have to return to the Senate a final time before it can head to the governor.Â
