Poll: Most want feds to curb cost of Rx drugs

Associated Press

WASHINGTON

Move over, “Obamacare.” A new poll finds Americans worried about medication costs and broadly supporting government action to curb drug prescription prices.

Overall, 72 percent said the cost of prescription medications is unreasonable, according to Thursday’s poll from the nonpartisan Kaiser Family Foundation.

Regardless of party affiliation, large majorities support requiring pharmaceutical companies to disclose how they set prices (86 percent); allowing Medicare to negotiate drug prices on behalf of beneficiaries (83 percent); limiting what drug companies can charge for medications to treat serious illnesses (76 percent); and allowing consumers to get prescriptions filled by pharmacies in Canada (72 percent).

The 2016 presidential candidates continue to debate President Barack Obama’s 5-year-old law expanding coverage for the uninsured, but the survey suggests the public has other priorities.