With centrist House Democrats working behind the scenes to craft a drug pricing proposal that is more palatable to the pharmaceutical industry and the Trump administration than the progressive alternative, polling data released Wednesday found that voters in key swing districts overwhelmingly favor candidates who are willing to directly confront Big Pharma to bring down soaring prescription drug costs.
“The American people all across the country are sick and tired of getting ripped off by Big Pharma.”
—Alex Lawson, Social Security Works”The American people need and want action on prescription drugs. When our tax dollars pay for research, we should be able to access life-saving drugs at prices we can afford,” Stephanie Taylor, co-founder of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, said in a statement.
Conducted by Public Policy Polling (PPP), the survey (pdf) found that in crucial swing districts in New Hampshire, Iowa, and South Carolina, 76 percent of voters support allowing Medicare to negotiate drug prices.
The poll also found that 73 percent of voters in these key congressional districts support breaking the pharmaceutical industry’s monopoly on life-saving drugs by allowing generic competition.
Over 76 percent of Democratic voters—and 53 percent overall—said they would be more likely to “support a candidate who stands up to Pharma,” according to the new survey.
“The American people all across the country are sick and tired of getting ripped off by Big Pharma,” said Alex Lawson, executive director of Social Security Works, which is planning to release a “congressional scorecard” to hold members of Congress accountable for siding with the pharmaceutical industry over the needs of patients.
The new polling data comes in the midst of an intraparty fight between establishment Democrats who want to cut a pharma-friendly deal with the Trump administration and progressives who want to take on the pharmaceutical industry with a bold plan to tackle skyrocketing drug prices.
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