ICYMI: Voter priorities this election season

Political posturing during the 2024 election season is injecting partisan politics into health care debates. Earlier this month, the White House held an event on lowering health care costs — though most of it was spent touting a drug pricing scheme that’s already hurting the development of future treatments and cures.

One topic the White House failed to mention: The role insurance companies and their middlemen play in driving up out-of-pocket costs.

With drug prices continuing to fall, focusing solely on them misses the bigger picture problems in our health care system and doesn’t address patients’ concerns about being forced to pay more than they should at the pharmacy counter. For example, a strong majority (93%) of insured Americans believe insurance should provide affordable access to health care, but only 34% think the current system does, found an Ipsos/PhRMA survey.

Voters know what’s driving their high pharmacy costs, and they know that so far, policymakers have done very little about it:

“There is strong bipartisan support for several bills that would bring more fairness and accountability to PBMs, but Congress keeps kicking the can down the road. Lawmakers are breaking their promise to address this problem, and that’s exactly what the PBM industry wants.”
– Dolores Caponera, California

“It is far past time for our leaders in Washington to stand up to insurers, PBMs and the harmful policies and practices they use to control patient access and the entire prescription drug marketplace.”
– James Farr, Nevada

Policymakers should focus on solutions that address the real pain points patients face and hold insurers and their middlemen accountable for harmful policies that stand between patients and their care. Americans have been clear on the solutions they want to see:

• Nearly 90% of American adults want policymakers to make lowering out-of-pocket health care costs a priority, according to a recent Morning Consult/PhRMA survey.
• Nearly nine out of 10 insured Americans believe rebates should be passed along directly to patients — not pocketed by insurers and middlemen, found an Ipsos/PhRMA survey.

Recently, PhRMA’s Chief Public Affairs Officer Robby Zirkelbach wrote an op-ed, "What US Voters Want on Healthcare This Election Season" for PharmaBoardroom outlining these priorities, explaining:

“An overwhelming majority of voters lay the blame for rising healthcare costs with insurers and their pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs), the entities who decide which medicines are covered, how much patients have to pay and what hoops they have to jump through to access the medicine their doctor prescribed.”

Instead of caving to the PBM industry, lawmakers should stand with these and other patients who want meaningful PBM reforms. As Zirkelbach wrote:

“Voters are clear about the healthcare challenges they’re experiencing and the solutions they want to see. Policymakers who can address these concerns with practical solutions would enjoy broad public support and help deliver a better, more affordable healthcare system.”

Learn more about how we can hold insurers and middlemen accountable and build a better health care system that works for patients: phrma.org/middlemen.

For the latest data and polling on voters’ true priorities, visit phrma.org/polling.