Support Builds for Reimportation Bill
"Momentum is building" in the Senate for the passage of broad prescription drug reimportation legislation, after senators last month approved an amendment to the fiscal year 2007 Homeland Security appropriations bill that would allow U.S. residents to transport medications personally from Canada, CongressDaily reports. In addition, U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials last week announced that they will no longer seize medications sent by mail to U.S. residents from Canadian pharmacies, an indication of "an easing of the administration's opposition" to prescription drug reimportation, CongressDaily reports.
According to CongressDaily, a "final boost to the legislative outlook for reimportation is that seniors might soon encounter the 'doughnut hole' coverage gap in the new Medicare drug benefit, something that will focus attention on the price of prescriptions."
Sens. Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.) and Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) last week wrote a letter to Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) to request a vote during the lame-duck session after the midterm elections on a bill that would establish a regulatory framework for prescription drug reimportation from approved nations.
However, without a "shift in power following the election, the chance of a reimportation vote in the lame-duck session remains a long shot," according to CongressDaily (CongressDaily, 10/11).