Americans Blame Drugmakers for High Prices

Americans are far more likely to blame pharmaceutical companies for high prescription medication costs than their health insurers, a recent poll has found. Of the 1,200 adults interviewed by the Kaiser Family Foundation’s researchers for the June Kaiser Health Tracking Poll, around three-quarters said the cost of prescription drug costs was unreasonable, but only10% of those responding blamed the high prices on co-pays demanded by their insurance company.

A similar majority said drug profits were a major factor in prescription prices, and 87% approved of enabling the Medicare program to negotiate prices with producers.

At the same time, over 70% of the poll’s respondents said they thought insurers should always pay for an expensive drug recommended by a doctor when no lower-cost alternative exists.