Here’s a long sample email. (Pick and choose your points: Make it easy and brief.)
Dear Senator,
I strongly urge you to support Senate Bill 18-080 to allow for the wholesale importation of Canadian pharmaceuticals. Nationally, allowing Canadian imports has bipartisan support because it will be good for Americans and the American economy.
The high cost of prescription drugs in the U.S. is unacceptable. Because of the pharmaceutical industry’s power, we pay more for prescription drugs than any other country. Many Colorado patients cannot afford the prescription drugs that would allow them to lead normal productive lives. This causes unnecessary illness, costly hospital admissions, lost productivity, and even deaths that could otherwise be avoided.
A report from the National Center for Health Statistics found that about 8 percent of adult Americans don’t take their medicines as prescribed because they can’t afford them, while 6 percent of younger people with private insurance skipped medications to save money. (See, Howard LeWine, M.D., “Millions of adults skip medications due to their high cost,” Harvard Health Publishing, Jan. 30, 2015.) In addition, 10 percent of Medicaid patients and 14 percent of those with no insurance were unable to afford the medications that they need.
This is a disgrace and it is morally wrong. Other countries have solved this problem. By importing pharmaceuticals from our northern neighbor, Canada, Colorado can lead the way to solving it here.
Signed, ___
More Talking Points (for phone calls)
- I urge you to support Senate Bill 18-080 on importing wholesale Canadian pharmaceuticals for resale to Colorado residents.
- U.S. consumers pay twice as much as Canadian consumers for patented prescription drugs and 20 percent more for generic drugs. It’s not fair, and it’s hurting Coloradans.
- A wholesale drug importation program for Coloradans would give Colorado consumers access to safe prescription drugs for less.
- Warren Buffett, CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, has said, “The ballooning costs of health care act as a hungry tapeworm on the American economy.” Passing SB18-080 will help both Coloradans and the economy.
