Huckabee pens op-ed on pharmaceutical reimportation

Mike Huckabee AnnouncementFrom Press Release

 

Republican presidential candidate and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee composed an editorial published today in the Orlando Sentinel calling for federal reforms that would allow individuals, seniors and pharmacies to re-import pharmaceutical drugs from Canada.

“As a country, we spend almost $375 billion filling prescriptions annually,” he wrote. “In the Senate, Barack Obama supported drug re-importation.  But somewhere between Stimulus carve-outs, ObamaCare handouts, and Wall Street bailouts, he surrendered.”

Free trade advocates, including U.S. Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-IA), John McCain (R-AZ), and Jeff Flake (R-AZ), have supported drug re-importation in the past. Huckabee’s proposal comes on the heels of a week-long campaign swing through Iowa and South Carolina where he made headlines as a staunch defender of Social Security and Medicare benefits for seniors.

The rising cost of prescription drugs remains a serious concern among voters, especially seniors. The IMS Institute for Healthcare Informatics reports that Americans filled 4.3 billion prescriptions last year, and total U.S. spending on drugs increased by 13 percent since 2013.

The former Arkansas governor will be in Orlando, FL, next week for an economic opportunity summit sponsored by Gov. Rick Scott.

To read the entire editorial, click here.