Across party lines, the public thinks something should be done policy-wise to lower the cost of prescription drugs.
But they're largely in disagreement with a pretty important group: lawmakers, who have shown little to no interest in enacting the policies that large majorities of the public support.
At least 7 in 10 people support four potential policy changes aimed to lower the prices of prescription drugs, according to a Kaiser Family Foundation survey released Thursday morning, although 72 percent of Americans say their prescriptions are affordable. A little more than half of Americans report taking a prescription drug.
The four policies surveyed, in order of popularity, are requiring drug companies to release information on how they set prices (86 percent), allowing the government to negotiate drug prices for people with Medicare (83 percent), limiting how much drug companies can charge for high-cost drugs (76 percent), and allowing Americans to buy drugs imported from Canada (72 percent).
A fifth policy — encouraging consumers to use low-cost drugs by charging them a larger share of the cost when they choose a more expensive alternative — is supported by less than half of the public.