Americans want state policymakers to lower out-of-pocket costs

Too many Americans are struggling to access and afford their health care. While policy debates about how to address these issues can seem never ending, American adults largely agree on what state policymakers should be doing to help deliver relief to patients at the pharmacy counter.  

A new 50-state poll conducted by Morning Consult on behalf of PhRMA finds 86% of adults in every state agree lowering out-of-pocket costs for health care should be a top policy priority for policymakers.  

Common-Sense Solutions

A majority of Americans in all 50 states support common sense solutions that would help patients pay less for their medicines and provide better oversight of middlemen.  

Among the most popular solutions for lowering drug prices is ensuring that patients don’t pay more for their medicine than health insurance companies or pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs). 

80% of adults agree lawmakers should require health insurance companies and their middlemen to pass the rebates and discounts they receive directly to patients.

Other popular solutions include:

• Ensure health insurance companies and middlemen are held accountable for their role in creating barriers between patients and the medicines they need. (83%)
• Require all health insurance plans to cover certain medications used to treat chronic conditions from day one of the plan year. (81%)
• Require health insurance companies to count patient assistance, such as cost sharing assistance, toward the patient's deductibles. (76%)
• Require health insurance companies to cover medicines from day one by offering at least some health plan options that exclude medicines from deductibles and only charge set copay amounts. (76%)
• Cap the amount of cost sharing, such as deductibles and coinsurance, that patients pay out-of-pocket to their medicines. (75%)

As lawmakers look for solutions to address affordability and access to health care, many are questioning abuses of the system by PBMs and insurers. Luckily, there are several policy solutions that state legislators can implement today that would bring real improvements and more accountability to the health care system.

To learn more about state solutions to help lower patient out-of-pocket costs and stay up to date with PhRMA’s work in the states, visit www.PhRMA.org/States.

This poll was conducted by Morning Consult, on behalf of PhRMA between March 21-29, 2023, among a national sample of 20,017 adults. The interviews were conducted online, and the data was weighted to approximate a target sample of adults based on age, gender, race, educational attainment, region, gender by age and race by educational attainment.