WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Senate on Tuesday rejected two proposals to allow Americans to buy cheaper prescription medicines from other nations, preserving a deal between the White House and the pharmaceutical industry.

The measures were offered as part of broad Democratic legislation to overhaul the $2.5 trillion U.S. healthcare system by expanding access to health insurance, tightening insurance industry regulations and controlling certain costs.

A bipartisan group of more than two dozen senators had sought to allow drug imports from Canada and other countries -- where drugs often sell at a much lower cost than in the United States. But they saw their proposal, which needed 60 votes to pass in the 100-member Senate, fall short by a vote of 51-48.

“We shouldn’t be paying the highest prices in the world for prescription drugs,” Senator Byron Dorgan said before the Senate vote on his proposal.

Other senators backed a separate measure to allow imports only after they had been certified as safe by U.S. health officials. Also needing 60 votes, the proposal lost 56-43.

The roughly $315 billion pharmaceutical industry boasts one of the strongest lobby groups in Washington. It also is the biggest healthcare industry to back President Barack Obama’s drive for healthcare reform legislation.

In an $80 billion, 10-year deal reached earlier this year with the White House and some Democratic senators, the industry agreed to help fund the reform effort through higher taxes and certain price agreements.

Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America Senior Vice President Ken Johnson said the drug makers’ lobby group continued to back the broad reform efforts.