Disappointment.

That’s how Maine Sen. Olympia Snowe describes her reaction to a report released Tuesday by the Department of Health and Human Services concerning drug-importation legislation.

Typical would be how we would describe the report.

The Bush administration has shown itself hostile to reasonable measures meant to reduce the cost Americans pay for prescription drugs. It should come as no surprise that the administration continues to maintain its position that importing prescription drugs from Canada cannot be done safely and cheaply.

Any excuse for derailing Snowe’s legislation will do. And HHS has plenty. What it didn’t provide, according to Snowe, was any meaningful recommendations for moving forward.

According to a Congressional Budget Office study, name-brand prescription drugs in Canada and other industrialized countries cost as much as 55 percent less than the same drugs bought in the United States.

Drug costs are a prime contributor to the double-digit yearly increases the country faces in health-care spending. The system has become unsustainable, sucking up more resources from families and employers alike, while providing fewer services.

The Pharmaceutical Market Access and Drug Safety Act, which has bipartisan support and 32 co-sponsors, including Snowe, isn’t a perfect solution. It’s a backdoor approach to reducing drug costs, but it’s the most politically viable option on the table.

The pharmaceutical industry hates the idea, saying it will cut down on the money available for researching new drugs. The more likely outcome is that it will cut into excessive corporate profits.

The importation bill establishes safeguards to protect consumers from counterfeit drugs, creates revenue to pay for the necessary monitoring and has the potential to save money and – more importantly – lives.

“With a comprehensive, proactive set of safety features, Americans can be confident in the safety of imported drugs. The greatest remaining risk to Americans – and one not included in the key findings of the report – is that if Americans cannot afford to fill prescriptions, the benefits of medications are lost,” Snowe said in a release about the report. “As has been said so many times, a drug one cannot afford is neither safe nor effective. When an individual can’t afford to refill a prescription, the result is predictable – it means more hospitalizations, injuries and deaths.”

Congress can expect no help from the Bush administration on drug importation. Members of the House and Senate must find the courage to buck the president and pass this important cost-control measure.