The majority of voters doubt President Trump’s ability to lower drug prices, the latest Kaiser Family Foundation poll suggests.
Trump’s strategy of publicly shaming drug companies and asking them to cut prices is “not at all” or “not too” effective in lowering drug prices overall, according to 55 percent of the public. A minority of voters polled — 38 percent — said they had some degree of confidence that Trump could deliver on his promises to lower drug costs.
The poll was published as various healthcare agencies within the Trump administration have announced actions to reduce drug prices, whether speeding up the development of less expensive generic drugs or giving Medicare plans more control over which drugs they offer. In the wake of Trump’s tweets blasting drug companies, certain brands curbed planned price increases.
Despite these actions, the public appears to still be concerned about the cost of medicine. The Kaiser Family Foundation finds an increase in the share of the public that says drug companies making too much profit is a “major reason” why people’s healthcare costs have been rising. When asked this question in 2014, 62 percent of the public felt this way. This month, that number rose to 78 percent, polling shows.
Drug companies make up a lower share of healthcare spending than other parts of the industry, including spending on hospitals and doctors. Still, the rate of growth in spending on the industry surged in 2014 and 2015, and then slowed the following year. The latest figures, for 2017, are expected to be made available later this year.
These other factors weren’t far behind in voters’ minds. Seventy-one percent blamed hospitals making too much and 49 percent blamed doctors for charging too much. Seventy percent blamed health insurance companies for making too much money, and about 60 percent said healthcare costs are rising because new drugs and technologies coming to the market were too expensive.
Other factors also were mentioned. Thirty-nine percent blamed Obamacare for rising healthcare costs and 38 percent blamed Trump’s actions on healthcare.
Only 7 percent of respondents said that they most wanted to hear a candidate talk about prescription drug cost. Instead, most identified healthcare costs more generally. The issue is mentioned more than three times as often as any other healthcare issue, whether increasing access to care, providing universal coverage, or care for adults 65 and older.
