Arizona families are waiting, watching, and voting.
Gas and grocery prices are stubbornly high, and affordable housing remains out of reach for many. Elected officials, especially my fellow Republicans, are drawing voters’ ire for the inflated cost of living. This shared anger should be a loud warning sign for politicians as Arizonans cast their ballots in less than two weeks.
It’s important to note that affordability doesn’t solely pertain to housing, food, and transportation costs, it also includes healthcare costs, especially soaring prescription drug prices. For years, Big Pharma has got away with charging American patients nearly three times more than patients in other wealthy countries for the same drugs, leading the U.S. to account for almost three-quarters of pharmaceutical profits globally.
In other words, the American people are being ripped off.
It’s no surprise then that according to a new survey from President Trump’s campaign pollsters, Fabrizio, Lee & Associates, 91% of all voters agree that “now is the time for common sense reforms that rein-in prescription drug costs, hold Big Pharma accountable, and bring much-needed relief to working families.”
Among survey respondents, 70% say a candidate’s position on drug pricing is important to earning their votes in November.
That data makes it clear that candidates should have a solution to high drug prices that they can run on in these closing days of the election, and then pledge to tackle should they be elected to the new Congress. A popular solution is Most Favored Nation (MFN) drug pricing policy, which would require pharmaceutical companies to offer prescription drugs to American patients for the same price they charge patients in other comparable, wealthy countries. MFN would finally ensure Big Pharma treats Americans the same as people who live in other countries.
More than 4 in 5 voters support Congress enacting MFN drug pricing legislation at the federal level. That support spans across the political spectrum, with 80% of Republicans, 87% of Democrats and 84% of independents in agreement.
These days, there aren’t many issues with bipartisan consensus, but Republicans, Democrats and independents agree on this one: Americans shouldn’t pay so much more than the rest of the world for the medications we need.
Affordability is arguably the biggest issue among voters in Arizona and nationwide, and will almost certainly remain so after Election Day. Codifying Most Favored Nation drug pricing policy through The Global Fairness is Drug Pricing Act (H.R. 3493) is one tangible, commonsense reform that policymakers can enact to quickly bring down costs for the prescriptions that Arizona families need.
Former Congressman J.D. Hayworth represented Arizona in the U.S. House from 1995-2007, and is spokesman for the Pharmaceutical Reform Alliance.
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