A new poll demonstrates that the vast majority of Americans support the Biden administration’s policy of Medicare negotiating with pharmaceutical companies to lower prescription drug prices.
The Associated Press/NORC poll, conducted from September 7 to 11, asked respondents whether they favored such a program. More than three-quarters (76 percent) said that they do, while only 6 percent said they were outright opposed to the program. Around one in five voters (18 percent) said they did not have an opinion on the matter.
Support for the program, which was passed last year as part of the Inflation Reduction Act, transcended party lines, with 86 percent of Democrats and 66 percent of Republicans voicing support. But when the issue was tied to President Joe Biden, who has long been a supporter of the policy, partisan politics appeared to seep into people’s opinions.
When asked about Biden’s job performance relating to prescription drug costs, 7 in 10 Democrats said they gave him positive marks. But only a quarter of Republicans said they approved of his work on the issue.
The Biden White House has heralded the program as one that will help working class Americans who are struggling to pay for critical prescription medications.
“There is no reason why Americans should be forced to pay more than any developed nation for life-saving prescriptions just to pad Big Pharma’s pockets,” Biden said in a statement last month.
Four of the ten medications that were announced in the initial round of negotiating drug costs are for the treatment of diabetes. The remainder are for treating various other conditions, including heart failure, psoriasis and arthritis, blood cancer and Crohn’s disease. The ten drugs listed account for one in five medications that are part of Medicare Part D prescription costs.
More pharmaceutical drugs subjected to negotiations will be announced in the future, the administration has said.
Per the terms of the law, companies that produce the ten medications will have until the start of next month to decide if they’ll take part in the negotiation process — if they don’t, they’ll be subject to an excise tax equal to 95 percent of their total U.S. drug sales, or they’ll have to opt out of participating in the Medicare and Medicaid programs.
Some pharmaceutical companies have sued the Biden administration over the law, contending that it is in violation of the Constitution. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is also suing the White House. In total, at least eight lawsuits seek to challenge the law’s requirement to negotiate prices.
Help us Prepare for Trump’s Day One
Trump is busy getting ready for Day One of his presidency – but so is Truthout.
Trump has made it no secret that he is planning a demolition-style attack on both specific communities and democracy as a whole, beginning on his first day in office. With over 25 executive orders and directives queued up for January 20, he’s promised to “launch the largest deportation program in American history,” roll back anti-discrimination protections for transgender students, and implement a “drill, drill, drill” approach to ramp up oil and gas extraction.
Organizations like Truthout are also being threatened by legislation like HR 9495, the “nonprofit killer bill” that would allow the Treasury Secretary to declare any nonprofit a “terrorist-supporting organization” and strip its tax-exempt status without due process. Progressive media like Truthout that has courageously focused on reporting on Israel’s genocide in Gaza are in the bill’s crosshairs.
As journalists, we have a responsibility to look at hard realities and communicate them to you. We hope that you, like us, can use this information to prepare for what’s to come.
And if you feel uncertain about what to do in the face of a second Trump administration, we invite you to be an indispensable part of Truthout’s preparations.
In addition to covering the widespread onslaught of draconian policy, we’re shoring up our resources for what might come next for progressive media: bad-faith lawsuits from far-right ghouls, legislation that seeks to strip us of our ability to receive tax-deductible donations, and further throttling of our reach on social media platforms owned by Trump’s sycophants.
We’re preparing right now for Trump’s Day One: building a brave coalition of movement media; reaching out to the activists, academics, and thinkers we trust to shine a light on the inner workings of authoritarianism; and planning to use journalism as a tool to equip movements to protect the people, lands, and principles most vulnerable to Trump’s destruction.
We urgently need your help to prepare. As you know, our December fundraiser is our most important of the year and will determine the scale of work we’ll be able to do in 2025. We’ve set two goals: to raise $81,000 in one-time donations and to add 1250 new monthly donors by midnight on December 31.
Today, we’re asking all of our readers to start a monthly donation or make a one-time donation – as a commitment to stand with us on day one of Trump’s presidency, and every day after that, as we produce journalism that combats authoritarianism, censorship, injustice, and misinformation. You’re an essential part of our future – please join the movement by making a tax-deductible donation today.
If you have the means to make a substantial gift, please dig deep during this critical time!
With gratitude and resolve,
Maya, Negin, Saima, and Ziggy