A brand new KFF Well being Monitoring Ballot finds that Medicare shall be allowed to barter drug costs on behalf of older People, however many citizens are unaware of the brand new legislation and the billions of {dollars} it’s anticipated to avoid wasting by 2026.

A big majority (85%) of voters say they assist permitting the federal authorities to barter the value of some pharmaceuticals for individuals with Medicare. That features at the least three-quarters of Republican (77%), unbiased (89%) and Democratic (92%) voters.

The Inflation Discount Act of 2022 approved such negotiations, and the Biden administration lately accomplished the primary spherical of negotiations on 10 medication, leading to an estimated $1.5 billion discount in copayments for Medicare beneficiaries by 2026.

The ballot discovered that almost two-thirds (65%) of voters are unaware or uncertain that there’s a legislation permitting Medicare drug value negotiations. The share (62%) is analogous amongst older voters (65+), who’re typically coated by Medicare.

A big majority (75%) of voters additionally say they haven’t heard a lot concerning the financial savings that can come from the primary spherical of value negotiations, together with nearly half (45%) who say they’ve heard “nothing in any respect.”

One in 4 say they’ve heard “lots” (4%) or “considerably” (21%) concerning the cuts. Older voters are barely extra more likely to have heard “lots” (7%) or “considerably” (26%) concerning the cuts.

Different findings embody:

• Most (55%) voters 65 and older count on Medicare drug value negotiations to decrease their very own prescription prices, with 43% saying it should haven’t any impression. Older Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents usually tend to count on financial savings than older Republicans and Republican-leaning independents (64% vs. 45%).

• Minority voters are conscious of different Medicare drug pricing provisions within the Inflation Discount Act, together with the $35 cap on insulin copayments (40%) and the cap on annual copayments for pharmaceuticals (27%). Older voters are extra seemingly than youthful voters to concentrate on each provisions.
• Whereas the Inflation Discount Act handed below President Biden with none Republican assist in Congress, the events are divided over who deserves credit score for the legislation’s Medicare drug pricing provisions. A considerable share of GOP voters say Republicans in Congress (54%) and President Trump (39%) had a “main” or “minor” position in passing these provisions. A bigger share of Democratic voters say Democrats in Congress (80%), President Biden (81%) and Vice President Harris (69%) had a job.
• Most voters say they’d assist extending Medicare’s $35 cap on month-to-month insulin prices (77%) and $2,000 cap on out-of-pocket drug spending (69%) past Medicare beneficiaries, as Vice President Harris has proposed. Majorities of Democrats, Republicans and unbiased voters favor extending each provisions.
• The survey, designed and analyzed by pollsters at KFF, was performed August 26 to September 4, 2024, on-line and by phone amongst a nationally consultant pattern of 1,312 U.S. adults, together with 1,084 registered voters, in English and Spanish. The margin of sampling error is plus or minus 4 proportion factors for the total pattern and amongst registered voters. Outcomes primarily based on different subgroups might have the next margin of sampling error.