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January 12, 2003 at 07:00 PM
To The Editor:
I really enjoy Jack Bobos columns in the National Underwriter, and being 68, I can appreciate his point of view on how many of our life insurance principles and traditions seem to be relegated to the “back burner.”
I happen to be a Canadian, but am in the process of relocating back to the U.S.
Getting back ones green card is another chapter, even though we lived here for 13 years, and I am on Social Security and Medicare.
I think I can fairly accurately fill in some of the pieces that Jack referred to in his Nov. 25 column
First, I think it is most important to understand that the general consensus in Canada is one of great acceptance of a large and invasive federal government. There are thousands like myself not in love with the parliamentary dictatorship, but Canadians, en masse, keep re-electing the Liberal government, which leans to the far left and fosters massive government control.
How come drugs are so cheap in Canada when most of them are from the U.S.? Lets suppose the Bobo Drug Company has a drug that it wholesales for $1. You and I as consumers pay $3 retail at the drug store. The marketing manager for Bobo Drugs suggests distributing in Canada, a market of 28 million people. Now comes the rub! The Canadian government dictates the drug entry and the price. It looks at Bobo Drugs and decides, “We will pay you 50 cents for the drug.” Its take it or leave it, so you decide to take the deal. Your drug will now retail in the Canadian market for $1.50, and thus the busloads will cross from Detroit, Michigan, to Windsor, Ontario, to get those “cheap Canadian drugs.”
But why are Canadian busloads heading to the U.S. for drugs? Because the drugs arent available in Canada. The government said “no deal” or the U.S. manufacturer said “no” to the cut-rate government offer.
