Personal Drug Importation Fills Critical Medicare Part D Coverage Gaps on Specialty Drugs

Ever since we published Not Made in the USA: The Global Pharmaceutical Supply Chain and Prospects for Safe Drug Importation, I have been determined to continue showing the public just how many expensive drugs are imported by drug companies from countries where the prices for those drugs are often much cheaper.

For this month’s drug price report, we took a look at the top 20 drugs often found on specialty tiers in Medicare drug plan formularies, ranked by 2017 gross Part D spending, finding that 14 out of the 20 drugs (70%) are manufactured abroad. You can download the report here.

Patients with multiple sclerosis, hepatitis C, and cancer in the United States face many thousands of dollars in annual drug costs. It’s time for Medicare to negotiate prices on drugs and allow for safe, commercial importation by licensed U.S. pharmacies so that Americans can have the same prices as they do in other high-income countries. In the meantime, the only outlet for many is personal drug importation: Thirteen of the specialty drugs we looked at are available via international mail order for an average of 74.84% less than the U.S. retail pharmacy price.