Support for Lowering Drug Prices is Bipartisan — Among Voters. Democrats Must Listen.
By Alex Lawson
Republican, Democratic, and Independent voters agree: Drug prices are too high. 75 percent of Republicans, 86 percent of Democrats, and 81 percent of Independents are “very” or “somewhat” concerned by the prices of prescription drugs.
Voters are outraged, and we want our government to take action. 77 percent of voters, including 70 percent of Republican voters, say the government should be doing more to reduce the prices of prescription drugs.
In communities across America, lowering drug prices is a bipartisan issue. The only place where it isn’t? Capitol Hill, where Republicans are more concerned about protecting their big pharma donors than listening to their voters.
In 2019, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 3, the Elijah Cummings Lower Drug Costs Now Act. This bill would give Medicare the power to negotiate lower drug prices for both Medicare beneficiaries and people covered by private insurance. Every single Democrat voted for the bill, but only 2 out of 193 Republicans. The bill died in the Senate, where Mitch McConnell refused to even bring it up for a vote.
Now, Democrats control both chambers of Congress and the White House. They need to listen to the people and pass H.R. 3 into law - with or without Republican support. But pharmaceutical corporations, desperate to protect their ill-gotten profits, are working to sow division in Democratic ranks.
Last month, a group of ten House Democrats, led by Rep. Jake Auchincloss (D-MA) and Rep. Scott Peters (D-CA) sent a letter to Speaker Nancy Pelosi, raising objections to H.R. 3. Most of these Democrats voted for H.R. 3 in 2019 (a few are new members whose terms began this January) but now they are demanding that “we must garner bipartisan support.” In other words, these Democrats are saying that if Republicans refuse to back a drug pricing bill, so will they.
Sound familiar? This is the same argument that Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) is using to oppose eliminating the filibuster, even to preserve our democracy. It’s an argument that only makes sense in the DC bubble, where pundits love to focus on process over policy.
Our polling with Data for Progress shows that the American people feel differently. Fifty-nine percent of voters, including half of Republicans, agree that Congress should move urgently to lower the cost of prescription drugs, even if the law is passed with votes from just one party. Only 32 percent of voters, and 41 percent of Republicans, think it's more important for the bill to be bipartisan than for Congress to act quickly and boldly.
In other words, Americans don’t care if legislation is “bipartisan”. We care about how it impacts our lives. Lowering drug prices is bipartisan in the only way that really matters — it has support from voters across the political spectrum. If Republicans choose to ignore that support and focus on protecting their big pharma donors, Democrats must act without them.
For that to happen, nearly every Democrat in the House and every Democrat in the Senate needs to get on board. The good news is that momentum is moving in the right direction.
Recently, Social Security Works and Organize for Justice (a sister organization of Justice Democrats) launched a billboard campaign in Rep. Auchincloss’s district. Our mobile billboard informed Rep. Auchincloss’s constituents that he was blocking efforts to lower their drug prices.
Rep. Auchincloss got our message. He has now committed that he will “vote for what the Democrats bring to the floor," backing down on the threats in the letter he co-led last month. Soon, we plan to launch another billboard campaign targeting the letter’s other co-leader, Rep. Peters.
In the Senate, Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR), chair of the Senate Finance Committee, is a leading champion of lowering drug prices. He is working hard to get drug pricing reform included in the next reconciliation package. But pharmaceutical corporations are trying to pick off just one Democratic Senator so they can block reform and keep charging obscene prices.
Any Democratic Senator who is tempted by big pharma’s campaign cash needs to take a close look at our polling. When it comes to support from voters, lowering drug prices is incredibly bipartisan. Democrats won Congress on a promise to lower drug prices. If Democrats want to keep control of Congress in 2022, they must keep that promise.
Alex Lawson (@alaw202) is the Executive Director of Social Security Works.