McCain’s healthcare plan suggests a loss for pharmaceutical companies

WASHINGTON John McCain’s healthcare plan, with a call to purchase drugs in Canada, may cost American pharmaceutical companies billions of dollars, according to published reports.

According to McCain, the Republican presidential candidate, “The problem is not that most Americans lack adequate health insurance, the biggest problem with the American healthcare system is that it costs too much.”

McCain’s health policy would allow citizens to purchase medicines legally from Canada, which would make them more affordable for the reported 47 million Americans that don’t have health coverage.

According to published reports, such drugs as Pfizer’s Lipitor, known as the world’s biggest selling drug, costs $60.78 for a 30-day supply of 20 mg pills on CanadaDrugs.com, whereas Drugstore.com in the U.S. sells the same pill in the same amount for $119.99.

The new policy is predicted to cost drug makers—like Pfizer—about $40 billion over 10 years, according to a report by the Congressional Budget Office.