The American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) on Wednesday, June 5, delivered over 4,000 letters from AARP New York members to State Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie’s Bronx office on East Gun Hill Road. The organization is urging Heastie to put Rx Importation Bill A. 7954 to a vote in the Assembly before the end of the scheduled legislative session on Thursday.
The proposed bill would create a wholesale prescription drug importation program that complies with federal standards and regulations, allowing consumers to purchase their prescription medications at a reduced price from Canada.
The Bronx Times reached out to Heastie’s office for comment and is awaiting a response.
“People are making decisions every day, cutting their pills in half, or buying less food because they can’t afford the drugs,” AARP New York Director Beth Finkel said.
The full cash price quotes for consumers without prescription drug coverage at retail pharmacies in the U.S. are two to eight times higher than cash retail prices for the same drugs found in pharmacies in Canada, according to the U.S. Government Accountability Office.
“We have volunteers and members who actually go to Canada to get their drugs because they’re so much cheaper,” David McNally, AARP New York Director of Government Affairs and Advocacy, said. “In fact, I had one member of the legislature tell us today that he actually goes to Canada to get his drugs.”
In January, the Food and Drug Administration authorized Florida’s Agency for Health Care Administration’s drug importation program. Florida’s program facilitates a pathway for certain prescription drugs to be imported from Canada.
“We would like to see the ability for us to import prescription drugs from safe importation from countries like Canada. Florida has already been approved to do this at the national level. So if Florida can do it, why can’t New York?” McNally said.
The bill has already passed with bipartisan support in the state senate. For Gov. Kathy Hochul to sign the bill into law, the bill must be voted on by the Assembly before the scheduled end of the legislative session on Thursday.
“This is the crunch time if you want to get a bill through both houses and get it to the governor’s desk right after that,” Finkel said. “You got to get it passed before Friday when they all go home.”
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