Drew Wilson
Voters in Florida’s 7th Congressional District say they’re paying too much for their prescriptions and they want U.S. Rep. Stephanie Murphy to empower Medicare to do something about it.
According to a Public Policy Polling survey conducted in the district, nearly nine in 10 voters think that drug prices are too high in the United States.
The belief was nearly universal among Democrats (94%), though It’s a sentiment that crosses party lines — 86% of independents and Republicans said the same.
The survey, conducted on behalf of Protect Our Care, also found that roughly four-fifths of CD 7 voters of would support giving Medicare the power to negotiate lower prescription drug prices, and 61% said they would “strongly” support granting it that power.
The topic was another aisle-crosser.
Almost two-thirds of Republicans (65%) and almost three-quarters of independents (72%) support giving Medicare negotiating power to lower drug prices, along with nearly all of Democrats (96%).
They said they don’t care if those negotiation powers stifle innovation — an argument commonly made by drug companies. They erred on the side of negotiating 71%-10%. Voters older than 65 — the age of eligibility for Medicare — favor negotiation over drug innovation 72%-10%.
The survey also finds that 71% of all voters and 76% of voters over the age of 65 strongly support making sure Americans do not pay more for the same prescription drugs than people pay in other countries.
A further 65% of all voters and 73% of voters older than 65 strongly support using the savings from lower drug prices to provide hearing, dental, and vision coverage to seniors on Medicare as well as lower health insurance premiums for millions more.
The PPP survey covered a long list of Medicare issues, but voters were clear that they expect their congresswoman to back such reforms.
More than two-fifths of those polled said they would be less likely to vote for Murphy if she opposed drug negotiations. That includes 47% of Democrats, 34% of Republicans, and 47% of independents.
The PPP poll was conducted via text and call Aug. 25-26 and has a sample size of 618 CD 7 voters. The margin of error is plus or minus 3.9 percentage points.
