Times are changing

Yes, our representatives in Washington are finally realizing times it is they who need to control the cost of healthcare/prescription medication. According to the Wall Street Journal article on Thursday, Republicans Agree to Ease Ban On Prescription Drug Imports, the US House of Representatives agreed to allow Americans to carry a 90-day supply of medication into the US from Canada. This is a major step in putting pressure on the pharmaceutical companies to lower the cost of prescription drugs. Hopefully this is a precursor to legally allow the sales of prescription drugs over the internet from Canada and abroad. Once this occurs, domestic prices for medications will decrease--- and as a result, so will healthcare costs (and then, health insurance costs, etc).

Lowering healthcare costs will be greatly needed, especially with public employees retiring and receiving healthcare coverage as part of their retirement pension. According to the NY Times article, Retiree Health Care May Overwhelm Gov'ts, the estimate of these benefits is currently in the “hundreds of billions of dollars over the next three decades, threatening some local governments with bankruptcy and all but guaranteeing cuts in services like education and public safety.” The main reason for this staggering amount is because of the rising costs of health care.

We need to do something about this! We need to encourage our representatives to continue pushing for the legalization of international prescription drug sales over the internet. This will at least put some pressure on the pharmaceutical companies to lower their domestic prices.