Eight in ten (80%) adults support the idea of Congress allowing the federal government to use its buying power to negotiate with drug companies for lower prices on prescription drugs for people on Medicare. Fewer than one in seven (13%) oppose this idea.

Nearly eight in ten (77%) see government negotiation of prices as a way to make medicines more affordable for people on Medicare and almost seven in ten (67%) say this plan makes sense because the government already negotiates prices for other groups such as the Defense Department and Veteran’s Administration. The public is more mixed on whether such negotiation would mean government price controls: just over half (54%) agree that it would mean price controls, while four in ten (40%) disagree.

The argument that allowing the government to negotiate drug prices will lead drug companies to do less research and development does not seem to resonate with most Americans: nearly two-thirds (64%) disagree while fewer than three in ten (29%) agree.