Thousands of Mainers again will be able to get their prescription medication at a discount now that some mail order pharmacies located outside the country can do business here. That had been the case until last summer, when then-Attorney General William Schneider ruled that the Canadian-based CanaRx was not licensed to do business in Maine.

Drugs made in the United States are often shipped to countries such as Canada, the United Kingdom and New Zealand and sold at a sharp discount because those governments negotiate with companies that make drugs.

That was bad news for employees of the state, who had been getting medications through the company at about 50 percent of the cost. It was also bad for taxpayers ultimately responsible for a higher bill for public employees’ medications.

Now that the Legislature and Gov. LePage have acted, those employees may again be able to get those discounts. But that leads to bigger questions: Why do people have to leave the country to get these deals? Why are prescription drugs so expensive here?

CanaRx is based in Canada, but that is not where all the medications it sells are manufactured. Many are made in the United States and shipped to Canada, where they are sold at a sharply discounted rate.

The reason they are sold at such a low price — in some cases, 80 percent less than what the same drug would cost here — is that their governments negotiate with the manufacturers.

The Legislature did the right thing with CanaRx, but it shouldn’t stop now. Every Mainer — every American — should be able to buy medication at prices similar to those paid in Canada and other countries for the same product.

We can control health care costs without rationing care. Negotiating prices with drug companies would be the right place to start.