88 Percent of Delaware Voters Support Giving Medicare the Power to Negotiate for Lower Drug Prices
DELAWARE — Today, State Senator Sarah McBride and a patient storyteller from Dover joined Protect Our Care to discuss a new poll conducted by Global Strategies Group on behalf of West Health showing health care is a top priority for Delaware voters.
Lowering prescription drug prices in particular remains a priority for Delaware voters, with an overwhelming majority of Delawareans reporting that they support giving Medicare the power to negotiate prescription drug prices for all Americans. The poll also shows that voters reject drug companies’ arguments on innovation.
Protect Our Care recently launched The Campaign to Reduce Drug Prices, a seven-figure investment to demonstrate the urgent need for comprehensive legislation to lower drug prices. Protect Our Care will host events both nationally and in 13 key states, including Delaware, throughout the summer.
Key findings from the poll include:
- Voters strongly support giving Medicare the power to negotiate for lower drug prices and believe the benefit of reducing drug prices outweighs any negative impact on innovation.
- “An overwhelming majority of voters in Delaware support requiring drug companies to negotiate with Medicare for lower prescription drug prices for all Americans (88% support/5% oppose). This broad support is consistent across demographics and there is particularly strong support among voters 55 and older (92% support), and men 55 and older (93%). There is overwhelming support across the partisan spectrum with Democrats (91%), independents (82%), and Republicans (86%) all supporting this measure.”
- “Voters in Delaware overwhelmingly agree with the statement we should allow Medicare to negotiate with drug companies to make drugs and medication more affordable to patients (76%) than the statement by letting Medicare dictate prescription drug prices, we will undercut drug companies’ ability to innovate and develop new drugs (14%).”
- Reducing prescription drug prices is a top issue for Delaware voters, and majorities of all parties agree that drug prices are going up.
- “Prescription drug prices are a real priority for voters in Delaware (79% top/major priority) and a top priority for more than a third Delaware voters (34% top priority). Voters 65 and older (43%), Black voters (43%), and Democrats (40%) tend to rank prescription drug prices as a particularly high priority.”
- “More than two-thirds of voters in Delaware voters say that they think drug prices are going up (67% going up). Those most likely to think that drug prices are going up include voters 65 and older (72%), men 55 and older (74%), non-college women (73%), and Black and Hispanic voters (78%). Across the partisan spectrum, Democrats (69%), independents (75%), and Republicans (63%) all believe that prescription drug prices are going up.”
“Too many Delaware families continue to face the impossible choice between getting well and getting by,” said Sarah McBride, State Senator for Delaware’s 1st District. “And for patients across our state, the cost of care has been unbearable, and in many cases insurmountable. Delaware already spends more per capita on health care than almost every other state. But that spending is not leading to better outcomes, with Delaware actually ranked in the bottom half of states and health outcomes, according to one study, and indeed that spending is creating significant, often increasing barriers to care for Delaware families.”
“Simply put, I cannot live the kind of life I want to live, I should be able to afford medication without so much worry on top of my illnesses and symptoms,” said Vanessa Ladson, Dover resident who faces high prescription drug costs. “My husband and I sacrificed a lot in order to be able to live. But I know other senior citizens who are much worse off than we are. Other countries help out their seniors by negotiating for fair drug prices. As the richest country in the world, the United States should be able to make our prescription drug affordable. That’s why we need Senators Carper and Coons to stand up for Delaware’s seniors, like me and my husband, by passing legislation to let Medicare negotiate for lower drug prices.”
“Politicians have every incentive to give Medicare the power to negotiate prescription drug costs. Polls show that Delawareans support prescription drug reform because they feel the impact of the high costs of their medications firsthand,” said Protect Our Care Executive Director Brad Woodhouse. “Giving Medicare the power to negotiate prescription drug prices will make medications more affordable for Delawareans and all Americans. It’s time for Congress to take action on soaring drug prices and help provide families some much-needed relief.”
You can read the polling memo here and slide presentation here, listen to Protect Our Care Delaware press call here, and learn more about H.R. 3 here.