DOSE OF REALITY: VOTERS WANT CANDIDATES TALKING ABOUT DRUG PRICES AND FOCUSED ON HOLDING BIG PHARMA ACCOUNTABLE

KFF Survey Finds Americans Want White House Contenders Talking Rx Prices, After Separate Poll Finds Voters Overwhelmingly Back Solutions to Hold Big Pharma Accountable

In case you missed it, the Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) released a new tracking poll revealing that Americans are concerned with the affordability of health care, and want to hear candidates for president discussing solutions to address high prescription drug prices. The poll found 64 percent of U.S. voters said it is “very important” to hear candidates talk about prescription drug costs, including more than 60 percent of Republicans, independents and Democrats.

A recent survey commissioned by The Campaign for Sustainable Rx Pricing (CSRxP) similarly found nearly seven-in-ten American voters (69 percent) are concerned about prescription drug prices.

The CSRxP survey, jointly conducted by two industry leading pollsters, Republican Erik Iverson of Moore Information Group (MIG), and Democrat Celinda Lake of Lake Research Partners (LRP), also found voters hold Big Pharma responsible for high drug prices and want solutions focused on holding Big Pharma accountable to be the focus of the debate.

Key takeaways from the CSRxP poll include:

• 60 Percent:A clear majority of American voters (58 percent) name pharmaceutical companies as most responsible for rising prescription drug prices, 40 percent more than the next most blamed entity: The U.S. government (18 percent). No other entity broke single digits. A majority of Republicans, Democrats and independent voters all identify the pharmaceutical industry as responsible.
• 87 to 11: By a margin of 76 percent, the vast majority of voters agree with the statement that “Lawmakers in Congress should reject the pharmaceutical industry’s blame game targeting others in the supply chain, and instead focus on holding brand name drug companies accountable to lower prescription drug prices” after being told, “the pharmaceutical industry has waged a multi-year campaign seeking to blame others in the prescription drug supply chain for high drug costs, including pointing a finger at pharmacy benefit managers and hospitals.” This includes more than 60 percent of Democrats, Republicans and independents who “strongly” agree with the statement.
• 81 Percent: More than four-in-five voters say they are more likely to back a candidate for the U.S. Senate or U.S. House of Representatives who supported The Affordable Prescriptions for Patients Act (Cornyn-Blumenthal).
• 90 Percent:Additionally, 90 percent of voters support “increasing list price transparency by requiring price increases above a certain threshold be publicly reported, to help arm patients and policymakers with insight into pharmaceutical companies’ pricing decisions and shine a light on the most outrageous price hikes.”

The KFF survey is the latest reminder that Americans are looking for policymakers to hold Big Pharma accountable for their anti-competitive practices and paying particular attention to these issues ahead of the 2024 elections.

Members of Congress can act now by passing market-based solutions with demonstrated bipartisan support to hold Big Pharma accountable, boost competition from more affordable alternatives and increase transparency, including the following bills already advanced by the U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary and the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP):

• The Interagency Patent Coordination and Improvement Act of 2023
• The Preserve Access to Affordable Generics and Biosimilars Act
• The Stop STALLING Act
• The Affordable Prescriptions for Patients Act of 2023 (Cornyn-Blumenthal)
• The Ensuring Timely Access to Generics Act of 2023
• The Retaining Access and Restoring Exclusivity (RARE) Act
• The Increasing Transparency in Generic Drug Applications Act
• The Fair Accountability and Innovative Research (FAIR) Drug Pricing Act

Read the full tracking poll from KFF HERE.

Read more on CSRxP’s August survey HERE.

Learn more about bipartisan, market-based solutions to hold Big Pharma accountable HERE.