KFF analysis has persistently discovered prescription drug prices to be an necessary well being coverage space of public curiosity and concern. Our polls discover that most individuals take no less than one prescription drug and most see their advantages to society, but majorities see these medication as too costly and three in ten battle to afford their medicines. The general public has traditionally supported many alternative approaches to decreasing prescription drug prices, together with permitting Medicare to barter costs, a core element of the Inflation Discount Act (IRA) handed in 2022. Nonetheless, greater than two years after passage of the IRA, majorities of the general public stay unaware of the drug pricing provisions that had been a part of the regulation.
Beneath are some key findings on the general public’s expertise with and perceptions of pharmaceuticals and their costs.
Prescribed drugs contact the lives of most individuals within the U.S. in a roundabout way. About six in ten adults say they’re presently taking no less than one prescription drug, and 1 / 4 say they presently take 4 or extra prescription drugs.
Along with taking pharmaceuticals themselves, the general public usually sees the advantages of those medicines. About six in ten (63%) adults imagine pharmaceuticals developed over the previous 20 years have usually made the lives of individuals within the U.S. higher whereas a a lot smaller share (21%) say they’ve made them worse.
Regardless of seeing their normal advantages to society, about eight in ten adults (82%) say the price of pharmaceuticals is unreasonable, and the general public sees earnings made by pharmaceutical firms as the most important issue contributing to those costs. About eight in ten adults or extra throughout partisans say earnings made by pharmaceutical firms are a “main issue” within the worth of pharmaceuticals. That is adopted by greater than half who say the price of analysis and improvement is a “main issue” contributing to the worth, and about half saying the identical about the price of advertising and marketing and promoting.
Simply over half (55%) of adults are anxious about having the ability to afford their household’s prescription drug prices, together with 1 / 4 (26%) who’re “very” anxious. Bigger shares of Black and Hispanic adults report worrying about affording prescription drug prices (61% and 69% respectively) in contrast with White adults, half of whom report worrying. A considerably bigger share of adults below the age of 65 with out insurance coverage (67%) report worrying about affording prescription drug prices, however nonetheless greater than half (54%) of those that have insurance coverage say they fear about these prices.
Whereas about two-thirds (65%) of adults total say it is vitally or considerably straightforward to afford their prescription drug costs, affordability is an even bigger difficulty for individuals who are presently taking 4 or extra prescription medicines. Almost 4 in ten (37%) of these taking 4 or extra pharmaceuticals say they’ve problem affording their prescriptions, in contrast with one in 5 (18%) adults who presently take three or fewer prescription drugs. Adults with an annual family earnings of lower than $40,000 are additionally extra doubtless than adults with larger incomes to report problem affording their prescription drugs.
About three in ten adults report not taking their medicines as prescribed sooner or later up to now yr due to the price. This contains about one in 5 who say they haven’t crammed a prescription (21%) or took an over-the counter drug as an alternative (21%), and 12% who say they’ve reduce drugs in half or skipped a dose due to the price.
The share who report not filling a prescription, taking an over-the-counter drug as an alternative, or chopping drugs in half or skipping doses will increase to about 4 in ten amongst grownup ages 18-29 (40%), Hispanic adults (39%), these taking 4 or extra pharmaceuticals (37%), and people dwelling in households with an annual earnings of lower than $40,000 (37%).
The July 2023 KFF Monitoring Ballot finds three in 4 adults saying there may be “not as a lot regulation as there ought to be” in terms of limiting the worth of pharmaceuticals. Whereas partisans typically disagree on how a lot authorities regulation there ought to be in different areas, majorities throughout partisans, together with eight in ten Democrats (82%), and about two-thirds of Republicans (68%) and independents (67%) say there may be “not as a lot regulation as there ought to be” in terms of limiting the worth of pharmaceuticals.
For many years, lawmakers have debated drug pricing laws, with the Inflation Discount Act, or IRA, marking the primary main piece of current laws aimed toward decreasing prescription drug costs. Earlier than the IRA was handed in 2022, majorities throughout partisans supported a variety of proposals together with permitting the federal authorities to barter with drug firms to get a cheaper price on drugs for folks with Medicare, a serious characteristic of the IRA. Traditionally, majorities have additionally favored growing taxes on drug firms that refuse to barter the worth of their medication with the federal government, limiting how a lot drug firms can enhance the worth of medication based mostly on annual inflation charges, permitting People to purchase medication imported from Canada, putting an annual restrict on out-of-pocket drug prices for folks with Medicare, and making it simpler for generic medication to return to market.
As of September 2024, most voters proceed to be unaware of the Medicare drug pricing provisions within the IRA, that was handed by Congress and signed into regulation by President Biden in 2022, although consciousness of a few of the provisions is larger amongst older voters – the group most impacted by the provisions.
4 in ten voters are conscious there’s a federal regulation in place that caps the price of insulin for folks with Medicare at $35 monthly, whereas a couple of third (35%) are conscious of the regulation that requires the federal authorities to barter the worth of some pharmaceuticals for folks with Medicare. A few quarter of voters (27%) are conscious of the federal regulation that locations an annual restrict on out-of-pocket prescription drug prices for folks with Medicare, and one in eight (12%) are conscious that there’s a regulation in place that penalizes drug firms for growing costs quicker than the speed of inflation for folks with Medicare. In comparison with youthful voters, bigger shares of voters ages 65 and older are conscious of a few of these drug pricing provisions of the IRA, most notably the $35 out-of-pocket cap on insulin, which 61% of older voters are conscious is a part of present regulation.
Total, nearly 9 in ten (85%) voters help authorizing the federal authorities to barter drug costs for folks with Medicare because the IRA does, whereas one in seven (14%) oppose. This provision is supported by 92% of Democratic voters, 89% of impartial voters, and 77% of Republican voters.
Majorities of voters, total and throughout partisanship, help two proposals that may construct on the IRA by extending a few of its provisions past these lined by Medicare. About three-quarters (77%) of voters help a proposal to develop the $35 cap on out-of-pocket prices for insulin past these with Medicare, together with majorities of Democratic voters (84%), impartial voters (79%), and Republican voters (70%). About seven in ten (69%) voters help a proposal to develop the $2,000 annual restrict on out-of-pocket prescription drug prices past these with Medicare, together with 83% of Democrats, 70% of independents, and 58% of Republicans.
