LRB-3402/1
PJD:kmg:ch
2003 - 2004 LEGISLATURE
October 15, 2003 - Introduced by Senators Robson, Breske, Carpenter, Chvala,
Decker, Erpenbach, Lassa
and Risser, cosponsored by Representatives
Seratti, Berceau, Hines, Huber, Lothian, Molepske, Pocan, Turner, Zepnick,
Taylor
and Miller. Referred to Committee on Health, Children, Families,
Aging and Long Term Care.
SJR46,1,6 1Relating to: strongly urging Congress and the Administration to enact the
2Pharmaceutical Market Access Act or similar legislation allowing individuals
3and pharmacies in the United States to import and re-import prescription
4medications purchased in other countries that have regulatory safeguards for
5the manufacture and distribution of drugs comparable to regulatory
6safeguards in the United States.
SJR46,1,97 Whereas, the practice of medicine has undergone a shift toward more
8utilization of outpatient prescription medications for patients who in previous years
9would have been hospitalized; and
SJR46,1,1210 Whereas, expenses for outpatient prescribed medicines increased from $72.3
11billion in 1997, or 13 percent of total medical expenses, to $103 billion in 2000, 16
12percent of total medical expenses; and
SJR46,1,1413 Whereas, between 1990 and 2001, prescription drug spending in the United
14States grew by about 12 percent per year; and
SJR46,2,3
1Whereas, Americans pay drug prices that are 30 to 300 percent higher than
2prices paid for the same drugs in European and other industrialized nations, and
3Canadian drug prices are on average 68 percent lower than American prices; and
SJR46,2,74 Whereas, individuals, from young adults to senior citizens, without
5prescription drug coverage pay the highest prices for prescription drugs and
6frequently leave their prescriptions unfilled, compromising their health and leading
7to more costly medical intervention; and
SJR46,2,118 Whereas, the estimated cost of prescription drug benefits for participants in
9state employee health insurance plans is $125 million annually and the cost of
10prescription medications purchased for Wisconsin prison inmates is $12 million
11annually; and
SJR46,2,1312 Whereas, if the medications in those 2 programs were purchased at the
13Canadian prices, the savings to Wisconsin taxpayers would be $83 million; and
SJR46,2,1514 Whereas, taxpayers and individuals with no or inadequate health insurance
15need relief from the high cost of prescription drugs; and
SJR46,2,1916 Whereas, Congress twice has passed legislation to allow American pharmacists
17and drug wholesalers to import FDA-approved drugs from other countries, but the
18U.S. department of health and human services has declined to implement a drug
19import program; and
SJR46,2,2520 Whereas, as part of Medicare legislation being developed in Congress, the U.S.
21house of representatives passed the Pharmaceutical Market Access Act, which
22requires the federal food and drug administration, within 180 days of enactment, to
23design and implement a system to grant individuals, pharmacists, and wholesalers
24in America the ability to import FDA-approved drugs from FDA-approved
25manufacturing facilities in 26 industrialized nations; and
SJR46,3,2
1Whereas, this provision would also require imported medicine to be shipped in
2antitampering and anticounterfeiting packaging; now, therefore, be it
SJR46,3,9 3Resolved by the senate, the assembly concurring, That the Wisconsin
4legislature strongly urges Congress and the Administration to enact the
5Pharmaceutical Market Access Act or similar legislation allowing individuals and
6pharmacies in the United States to import and re-import prescription medications
7purchased in other countries that have regulatory safeguards for the manufacture
8and distribution of drugs comparable to regulatory safeguards in the United States;
9and, be it further
SJR46,3,12 10Resolved, That the Wisconsin legislature urges Congress and the
11Administration to develop long-term solutions to bring down the price of
12prescription medications so that we do not have to rely on imports; and, be it further
SJR46,3,16 13Resolved, That the senate chief clerk provide a copy of this joint resolution to
14the President of the United States, to the secretary of the U.S. department of health
15and human services, and to all members of the congressional delegation from
16Wisconsin.
SJR46,3,1717 (End)
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