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Florida, Colorado and several New England states are moving ahead with efforts to import prescription drugs from Canada, a politically popular strategy greenlighted last year by President Donald Trump.
But it’s unclear whether the Biden administration will proceed with Trump’s plan for states and the federal government to help Americans obtain lower-priced medications from Canada.
During the presidential campaign, Joe Biden expressed support for the concept, strongly opposed by the American pharmaceutical industry. Drugmakers argue it would undercut efforts to keep their medicines safe.
The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, an industry trade group, filed suit in federal court in Washington, D.C., to stop the drug-purchasing initiatives in November. That followed the Trump administration’s final rule, issued in September, that cleared the way for states to seek federal approval for their importation programs.
5 Things Colorado: Q&A w/Sen. Rhonda Fields, Bennet & Hickenlooper, SUD coverage DJ Wilson | Jan 14, 2021
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If you understand the unique character of our republican democracy, you can find calm in this anxious time. In six days, Joe Biden will be inaugurated President of the United States. He may not have been your candidate. That disappointment is a luxury of being in a democracy.
The orderly transfer of power from one administration to another is something unique to the last few hundred years among almost the entire swath of human history. It transpires again next Wednesday, only the 45th time since the enactment of our Constitution in 1789. I would encourage you to watch and appreciate the moment at 12:00 pm EST on January 20th. Doing so is a reminder of how unique our American experiment in self-government is. And, how fragile.
KUNC
Colorado’s Medicaid program is expanding its substance use disorder benefit to include new services like residential treatment programs.
Colorado is increasing addiction treatment for Medicaid members.
Starting on Jan. 1, Health First Colorado will expand its substance use disorder (SUD) benefit. Residential and inpatient treatment and withdrawal management services, including detox, will be added to Medicaid’s existing list of covered services.
The new services will be an entitlement benefit, giving Medicaid members access to a full range of treatment options. This continuum of care is important, said Laurel Karabatsos, deputy Medicaid director at the Colorado Department of Health Care Policy and Finance, especially with the impacts of COVID-19 and the state’s ongoing opioid crisis.
When last year’s legislative session gaveled in, the hottest show under the gold dome was the pending fight over the public option, one of the last big pieces of Gov. Jared Polis’ campaign promise to save people money on their health care.
The state’s economy was booming, Polis was past his honeymoon as governor and the bill sponsors, Sen. Kerry Donovan of Vail with Reps. Dylan Roberts of Avon and Chris Kennedy of Lakewood, had made the appropriate rounds making the case for affordable insurance.
They’ll make that case again this year, Donovan told Colorado Politics, likely dropping a similar but bolder insurance proposal early in the session that begins Jan. 13.