Texas bill lowering prescription costs heads to governor's desk

AUSTIN — Texas lawmakers passed a bill Monday that will lower costs for prescription medications.

House Bill 25 creates the Texas Wholesale Prescription Drug Importation Program. It allows Texas to import cheap medicine from Canada with tight regulatory safeguards approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. It was authored by Round Rock Democrat state Rep. James Talarico.

“Texans are choosing between their medications and their groceries — and many of them are choosing to go without their medications,” Talarico said in a statement.

Americans pay at least twice as much as Canadians for prescription drugs that are often made in the United States, and roughly 42% of Texans skip or ration doses of prescription medication due to high costs, Talarico said.

The program will save Texans 60-70% on everything from EpiPens to blood pressure medicine to cancer drugs, he added.

Under the program, the state will identify a seller that is licensed to sell wholesale drugs by Health Canada, and that would be registered as a foreign seller. It will then identify one importer that is a U.S. licensed wholesale distributor or pharmacist, officials added.

HB 25 received overwhelming and bipartisan support in both chambers.

“We took on Big Pharma and won. Now we’re one step closer to safe and affordable prescription drugs for all Texans,” Talarico said.