Voters support making drug companies post prices on ads: Poll

Roughly one in seven people who have seen commercials about drugs have discussed them with their doctors, and of these individuals, about half discussed the price of the drugs with their doctor, the poll found.

Fifty-seven percent of voters say that a candidate’s support for passing bills to bring down prescription drug costs is a very important, though not the most important, factor in their vote.

Healthcare in general was low on the list of factors driving people to vote. Roughly one in 10 voters said that a candidate’s support for a variety of different healthcare positions was the “single most important factor” in which candidate they would choose. Only 11 percent reported that a candidate’s support for moving all people onto Medicare was a driving factor in their vote. The poll did not ask voters whether they personally supported the provision or whether supporting such a system would motivate them to vote against the candidate.

A slightly bigger portion of those asked, 14 percent, said that “continuing protections for people with pre-existing health conditions such as diabetes, cancer, and heart disease” was the “single most important factor” in their vote. This factor ranked higher than all the others voters were asked about, including repealing Obamacare, at 9 percent, passing bills to reduce drug prices, at 8 percent, and passing legislation to stabilize Obamacare, at 7 percent.

Despite other issues driving voters’ decisions, the poll found that a quarter of respondents believe that healthcare is the most important issue for congressional candidates to talk about. That percentage was just above the 23 percent of voters who believe the economy and jobs is the most important issue.

The poll was conducted over the phone from June 11-20 among 1,492 voters.