AARP survey finds 50+ voters worry about prescription costs

Most Americans ages 50 and older rely on prescription drugs for their health, yet many worry about their ability to pay for them. Thus, coming out of this reality is a certain consensus: Lawmakers should take action to make medications more affordable—and the sooner, the better.

That's the takeaway from a recent AARP survey of registered voters conducted by phone in June.

The issue of prescription drug affordability touches the lives of many Americans, and more so as they age. While 70% of those ages 50–64 in the U.S. regularly use prescription drugs, 86% of those over age 65 do. 

The main reason people don't fill a prescription they need is the cost. Those younger than 65 tended to worry more about price than those who were over, AARP finds. No matter what their political affiliation, about two-thirds of voters believe American consumers pay more for prescription drugs than people in other countries.

"Medications don't work if you cannot afford to take them,” said Nancy LeaMond, AARP executive vice president and chief advocacy and engagement officer. “Congress and the president must act now to lower unfair drug prices and make sure all Americans can afford the medications they need."

The survey revealed overwhelming support for five key solutions that AARP has been urging elected officials to adopt to help make prescriptions more affordable. These include:

• Allowing Medicare to negotiate with drugmakers for lower prices
• Capping out-of-pocket prescription drug costs for older adults
• Preventing drug companies from charging more for drugs in the United States than in other countries
• Closing loopholes that let brand-name pharmaceutical companies charge high prices for copycat drugs or drugs for which they make only minor changes
• Penalizing drugmakers that raise their prices higher than inflation. A recent AARP Price Watch report found that retail prices for some of the most used prescription drugs have been increasing twice as much as inflation.

To address this problem, 87% of respondents believe that the U.S. Congress should take action, and 70% say finding solutions to lower drug prices this year is very important, according to the survey. The successful negotiations with drug companies for the COVID-19 vaccine has made many voters more likely to agree that the government should negotiate lower prices for other drugs.

When asked about legislative proposals to provide relief, 87% agreed that Medicare (the largest prescription purchaser in the U.S.) should be allowed to negotiate with drug companies. Also, more than three-quarters of respondents support putting a cap on the amount older adults have to pay for medications as well as preventing drug companies from charging American consumers more than those in other countries. Support for the various remedies was consistently high across party lines.

"The survey shows overall that voters 50-plus want action this year, and they want to see things that lower prices across the board,” said John Hishta, AARP senior vice president for campaigns. “This tells you that these are very popular across party lines, and it's one of the few issues that you can point to where everybody agrees."

COVID vaccines could point the way
A strong majority of age 50-plus registered voters say that the rollout of COVID-19 vaccines shows that the government can successfully negotiate with drug manufacturers for lower prices,

The ability of the U.S. government to successfully negotiate with drug companies on the prices of the vaccines to combat the coronavirus should bode well for negotiating with these companies for Medicare drug prices, the results show.

Among those surveyed, 71 percent said that the successful vaccine negotiations make it more likely that they'd agree the government should negotiate with drugmakers for Medicare prices. While Republican support (62 percent) was less than among Democrats (78 percent) and independents (75 percent), a strong bipartisan majority believes the vaccine experience should influence future negotiations. “This is a proof point that we can show elected officials, members of Congress and the Senate,” Hishta said. “It's an example that negotiation works."