[yellowarchangel]

> instead of just regulating drug prices domestically

The current administration is very anti-regulation, so this would be a bad move. Also, allowing Canadian drugs to enter the country will force current producers to lower pricers, which will organically (capitalism) reduce the price through competition.

[ijpoijpoihpiuoh]

You're missing the fact that one big reason the prices are so low in Canada is regulation.

https://www.healthaffairs.org/doi/full/10.1377/hlthaff.20.3....

What the administration is proposing is effectively to regulate drug prices, but outsource that work to Canada, since it's politically unpalatable to their base here in the US.

[skybrian]

Sounds good to me. Second-best, but that's true of a lot of things.

They should do the same for Europe.

[ijpoijpoihpiuoh]

I don't fundamentally mind the policy decision. It's bad for Canadians and good for Americans, although we give up some agency in the determination of our own prices by making this play. I just wish the messaging around this didn't have to be so disingenuous.

Also, if I were Canada, I would ban the export of drugs to the United States if the US domestic price for the drug is higher than the Canadian price for the same drug. Because otherwise the effect would be that a single market would exist for the drug, and the average price in Canada would face upward pressure as a result. Although if they did this, an American administration bent on getting the same effect could cap all domestic drug prices to the prices paid by Canadians and skip the pointless importing step. I wonder how Canada would react to that? I guess if I were Canada at that point I would make drug price negotiations secret.

[skybrian]

I don't think we know how prices would change in the long run? It could turn out is that increased volume of sales gives Canada more leverage with its suppliers as a larger buyer.

[munk-a]

I think it's much more likely that Pharma manufacturers would cut supply to Canada and pressure the government to price match what US end users would end up paying - it's hard to tell but... I don't have a very optimistic view of the morals of drug manufacturers and this would be a highly convenient crow bar.

[ddingus]

I will take it as a first step.