Poll: Most Think Medicare Should Negotiate Drug Prices

Nearly nine in 10 U.S. residents want Medicare to be allowed to negotiate with drugmakers on the price of medications, according to a Kaiser Family Foundation poll. Federal law currently prohibits Medicare from negotiating drug prices. Previous efforts to allow Medicare to negotiate drug prices were met with charges of "government interference" in the market. However, recent attention on drug prices -- brought about largely because of the introduction of several new hepatitis C drugs that cost more than $80,000 for a course of treatment -- has fostered a change in public opinion.

• "Americans Want Medicare To Help Negotiate Down Drug Prices: Poll" (Gumpert, Reuters, 7/17).