The coming US presidential election has generated a lot of talk about policy issues. But there’s one topic that the campaigns aren’t talking about, and it could just be the one that sways the election: skyrocketing drug prices.
Americans Are Worried About Drug Prices
Polls prove that most Americans worry about rising drug prices. According to the Kaiser Health Tracking Poll, 63% of Americans would like the government to take action to lower prescription drug prices. When asking about drugs for chronic conditions like HIV, hepatitis, mental illness, and cancer, that number jumps to 77%.
Drug Prices Are Increasing With No End in Sight
Take Medicare, the government’s largest health plan, as an example. Until recently, Medicare saw only minor increases in drug prices – about 1.5% per year. However, in 2014, spending on drugs increased by 13%.
Drug companies say the rise in prices is due to the fact that more specialty drugs are being introduced to the market, such as those for Hepatitis C or HIV. Pharma industry analysts predict that the price of specialty drugs will continue to rise at about 6.5% over the next decade.
Americans Want Action on Drug Pricing
83% of Americans want to allow the federal government to negotiate drug prices for Medicare, which positively impacts millions of seniors. However, current law prohibits the government from getting involved with pharmaceutical price negotiations. And that means getting the government cannot act unless the law is changed.
Our Current Legislative Situation is a Stalemate
Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the last few years, you know that getting the legislative branches of government – the Senate and the House of Representatives – to act at all is a nonstarter. What’s more, no matter who wins the presidency, that person won’t be able to change the situation alone: the president has no authority to do so.
Big Pharma’s Lobbying Power
As if legislative inaction weren’t enough, a call to action may not even matter. That’s because pharmaceutical companies spend a ton of money lobbying Congress to get things to go their way. Big Pharma employs almost 1,400 lobbyists and spends a combined $238 million to power them.
What Are Candidates’ Plans to Curb Drug Prices?
Because of these current roadblocks to action, the upcoming election has the possibility of making a real impact on decreasing drug prices. So what have the leading candidates said about this topic that’s so important to the American people?
Each major campaign has addressed the topic with broad strokes, but none has laid out a detailed plan. And those plans could make or break candidacies this year.
- Hillary Clinton – Clinton wants to allow the government to negotiate directly with pharmaceutical companies and let Americans import drugs from other countries like Canada. She would also call for a cap on monthly drug costs ($250).
- Donald Trump – Trump is also in favor of government price negotiation as well as allowing Americans to import drugs from overseas.
- Bernie Sanders – Sanders echoes the call for Medicare drug negotiations and unimpeded drug imports. He also wants to prohibit pharma companies from paying to keep generics off the market.
- Ted Cruz – His website offers no discussion of drug prices.
Of course, Big Pharma is hedging its bets by donating to presidential campaigns, in addition to hefty lobbying efforts. Through the end of 2015, pharmaceutical companies have donated almost $1 million to various candidates. Hillary Clinton tops the list by far, getting over $336,000 in donations from drug companies.
For more information about the state of drug prices, read our look at the recent inflation of prescription drug prices.
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