Do you support importing drugs from other countries?
Yes
Joe Biden
Former vice president
“To create more competition for U.S. drug corporations, the Biden Plan will allow consumers to import prescription drugs from other countries, as long as the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has certified that those drugs are safe,” Biden's health-care plan said.
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Cory Booker (Dropped out)
U.S. senator, New Jersey
Booker is no longer running for president. Booker is a co-sponsor of Sanders’s 2019 Affordable and Safe Prescription Drug Importation Act.
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Pete Buttigieg (Dropped out)
Former mayor, South Bend, Ind.
Buttigieg is no longer running for president. Buttigieg supports importing drugs from other countries, but “such importation must be done in a way that ensures safety and quality,” a campaign spokesman told The Post.
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Julian Castro (Dropped out)
Former mayor, San Antonio
Castro is no longer running for president. Castro supports importing drugs from other countries, he told The Post.
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John Delaney (Dropped out)
Former U.S. representative, Maryland
Delaney is no longer running for president. “We need to establish regulations to ensure safety, but I would support allowing imports from other nations like Canada, yes,” Delaney told The Post.
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Bill de Blasio (Dropped out)
Mayor, New York City
de Blasio is no longer running for president. “Allowing prescription drugs to be purchased and imported will lower drug prescription drug costs,” de Blasio told The Post.
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Tulsi Gabbard (Dropped out)
U.S. representative, Hawaii
Gabbard is no longer running for president. She has co-sponsored a drug importation bill, an identical version to Sanders’s bill, introduced in the House in January.
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Kirsten Gillibrand (Dropped out)
U.S. senator, New York
Gillibrand is no longer running for president. Gillibrand supports importing generic drugs. She is a co-sponsor of Sanders’s 2019 Affordable and Safe Prescription Drug Importation Act.
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Kamala D. Harris (Dropped out)
U.S. senator, California
Harris is no longer running for president. Harris is a co-sponsor of Sanders’s 2019 Affordable and Safe Prescription Drug Importation Act.
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Jay Inslee (Dropped out)
Governor, Washington state
Inslee is no longer running for president. Inslee supports importing drugs from other countries, he told The Post.
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Amy Klobuchar (Dropped out)
U.S. senator, Minnesota
Klobuchar is no longer running for president. Klobuchar is a co-sponsor of Sanders’s 2019 Affordable and Safe Prescription Drug Importation Act.
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Beto O'Rourke (Dropped out)
Former U.S. representative, Texas
O'Rourke is no longer running for president. O'Rourke supports importing drugs from other countries, according to his campaign.
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Deval Patrick (Dropped out)
Former governor, Massachusetts
Patrick is no longer running for president. Patrick supports importing drugs from other countries, his campaign told The Post.
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Tim Ryan (Dropped out)
U.S. representative, Ohio
Ryan is no longer running for president. Ryan supports importing drugs from other countries, his campaign told The Post.
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Bernie Sanders (Dropped out)
U.S. senator, Vermont
Sanders is no longer running for president. “Yes. My Affordable and Safe Prescription Drug Importation Act with Rep. Elijah Cummings would allow Americans, wholesalers, and licensed U.S. pharmacies to import prescription drugs from Canada and other countries,” Sanders told The Post.
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Joe Sestak (Dropped out)
Former U.S. representative, Pennsylvania
Sestak is no longer running for president. “Yes, for those nations that have FDA-level of accountability,” Sestak told The Post.
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Tom Steyer (Dropped out)
Billionaire activist
Steyer is no longer running for president. Steyer supports importing drugs from other countries, he told The Post.
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Eric Swalwell (Dropped out)
U.S. representative, California
Swalwell is no longer running for president. “I support importing drugs if they meet safety standards and the manufacturers can be held liable,” Swalwell told The Post.
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Elizabeth Warren (Dropped out)
U.S. senator, Massachusetts
Warren is no longer running for president. Warren told The Post she supports various drug pricing proposals, including the “importation of prescription drugs from other countries.” She is a co-sponsor of Sanders’s 2019 Affordable and Safe Prescription Drug Importation Act.
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Andrew Yang (Dropped out)
Tech entrepreneur
Yang is no longer running for president. “I would consider doing so if American companies were not able to provide drugs at fair prices to the American people,” Yang told The Post.
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On a case-by-case basis
Michael Bennet (Dropped out)
U.S. senator, Colorado
Bennet is no longer running for president. “To lower drug costs, we should require the federal government to negotiate lower prices, just as other countries have done to reduce the costs of prescription drugs,” Bennet told The Post.
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Steve Bullock (Dropped out)
Governor, Montana
Bullock is no longer running for president. "Rather than focusing on importing drugs from other countries, we need to get our pharmaceutical companies to charge Americans less for vital medicines. If these efforts are unsuccessful, moving toward a safe drug reimportation program would remain an option," Bullock told The Post.
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John Hickenlooper (Dropped out)
Former governor, Colorado
Hickenlooper is no longer running for president. Hickenlooper supports importing drugs from other countries on a case-by-case basis, he told The Post.
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Marianne Williamson (Dropped out)
Author
Williamson is no longer running for president. “I would like American workers, and American companies to receive their fair share of health care expenditures. However, when dramatic savings can be found by exploring options from other countries, I understand the benefit of exploring those options on a case-by-case basis,” Williamson told The Post.
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Unclear/No response
Mike Bloomberg (Dropped out)
Former New York mayor
Bloomberg is no longer running for president. Bloomberg did not answer this question by publication.
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Seth Moulton (Dropped out)
U.S. representative, Massachusetts
Moulton is no longer running for president. Moulton did not provide an answer to this question.
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Background Some lawmakers have proposed allowing Americans to purchase medications from other countries as a way to lower consumer costs.
A February 2019 tracking poll from the Kaiser Family Foundation found 80 percent of the public favors allowing Americans to buy imported drugs from Canada.
The Post is sending detailed questionnaires to every Democratic candidate asking for their stances on various issues. See all the issues we’ve asked about so far.
See our other questions on health care:
- Do you support Medicare-for-all?
- What should happen to private insurance?
- Do you support creating a public option to expand health care, such as allowing people to buy into a state Medicaid program regardless of income?
- Should there be restrictions on abortion at any point during a healthy pregnancy?
- Do you believe all undocumented immigrants should be covered under a government-run health plan?
- Do you support having the federal government produce and sell generic drugs to lower drug prices?
- Do you support giving the federal government the ability to negotiate drug prices for Medicare?
- Do you support partially expanding Medicare by allowing people ages 50 to 64 to buy into Medicare?
- Would you seek to repeal the Hyde Amendment, which prohibits the use of federal funds for abortion?
- Should federal law require all private insurance plans cover abortion?
- Would you reverse the Mexico City policy, which prohibits U.S. funding for foreign organizations that “perform or actively promote” abortion?
How we compiled candidate positions
The Washington Post sent a detailed questionnaire to every Democratic campaign asking whether they support various health-care policies. We organized candidates with similar stances into groups using a combination of those answers, legislative records, action taken in an executive role and other public comments, such as policy discussion on campaign websites, social media posts, interviews, town halls and other news reports. See something that we missed? Let us know.
This page will update as we learn more about the candidates’ plans. We also will note if candidates change their position on an issue. At initial publication, this page included major candidates who had announced a run for president. If a candidate dropped out after a question was published here, their stance is included under the "Show former candidates" option. If they dropped out before a question was first published, the Post did not reach out to get their stance.
Candidate illustrations by Ben Kirchner.