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<p class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/section/politics"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:blue;text-decoration:none"><img border="0" width="411" height="36" id="Picture_x0020_7" src="cid:image001.png@01D0DB5A.E066AFB0" alt="Politics"></span></a><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Edition:
<b>US</b> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<div style="mso-element:para-border-div;border:none;border-bottom:solid windowtext 1.0pt;padding:0in 0in 1.0pt 0in">
<p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center;border:none;padding:0in">
<span style="font-size:8.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">Top of Form<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</div>
<div style="mso-element:para-border-div;border:none;border-top:solid windowtext 1.0pt;padding:1.0pt 0in 0in 0in">
<p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center;border:none;padding:0in">
<span style="font-size:8.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">Bottom of Form<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</div>
<div style="mso-element:para-border-div;border:none;border-bottom:solid windowtext 1.0pt;padding:0in 0in 1.0pt 0in">
<p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center;border:none;padding:0in">
<span style="font-size:8.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">Top of Form<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</div>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><b><span style="font-size:24.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Americans Don't Like Pharma And Think They're Getting Ripped Off<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><b><span style="font-size:18.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Americans pay more for prescription drugs than the rest of the world, and we've noticed.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><img border="0" width="50" height="50" id="Picture_x0020_8" src="cid:image002.jpg@01D0DB5A.E066AFB0" alt="Headshot of Jeffrey Young"></span><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jeffrey-young"><span style="color:blue">Jeffrey Young</span></a> Health Care Reporter, The Huffington Post
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<ul type="disc">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;mso-list:l3 level1 lfo5">
<span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></li></ul>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Posted: 08/20/2015 03:00 AM EDT<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">WASHINGTON -- Americans use prescription drugs and they know these medicines help people, but they still don't
care much for pharmaceutical companies and think the industry is too money-hungry, according to a new survey.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">More than seven in 10 Americans think prescription drug prices are unreasonable,
<b><a href="http://kff.org/health-costs/poll-finding/kaiser-health-tracking-poll-august-2015/"><span style="color:blue;font-weight:normal">the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation reported Thursday</span></a></b>. And nearly eight in 10 people who actually take
those drugs feel the same way. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Almost three-quarters also correctly observed that Americans tend to pay higher prices than people in other countries,
where governments typically control prices directly.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><img border="0" width="630" height="465" id="Picture_x0020_9" src="cid:image003.png@01D0DB5A.E066AFB0" alt="http://img.huffingtonpost.com/asset/scalefit_630_noupscale/55d4ebb5170000b700568050.png"></span><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Henry
J. Kaiser Family Foundation <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">And though the survey indicates that most people have health insurance that allows them to afford these medicines
-- meaning Big Pharma isn't about to see its sales numbers shrink -- it also shows sincere dissatisfaction with drug companies and the amount of money they charge for their products.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Some positive findings for pharmaceutical companies: 62 percent of those surveyed agreed that prescription drugs
are good for people. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">And that's about all the good news the Kaiser Family Foundation has for the industry.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Just 42 percent of Americans have a favorable opinion of drug companies. That makes them slightly more popular
than oil companies, and less popular than the rest of the health care system -- including health insurers -- airlines and banks. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><img border="0" width="630" height="451" id="Picture_x0020_10" src="cid:image004.png@01D0DB5A.E066AFB0" alt="http://img.huffingtonpost.com/asset/scalefit_630_noupscale/55d4ebef14000077002e370a.png"></span><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Henry
J. Kaiser Family Foundation <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">And in spite of a
<a href="http://www.innovation.org/" target="_blank"><span style="color:blue">long-running public relations campaign focused on drug companies' contributions to America</span></a>, survey respondents don't seem to think Big Pharma is anything special: 57 percent
said pharmaceutical companies are doing about as much for society as those in other industries.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Possibly related to all of this is that the public overwhelmingly believes drug companies make too much money,
and care more about profits than the patients for whom they make their medicines.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><img border="0" width="630" height="455" id="Picture_x0020_11" src="cid:image005.png@01D0DB5A.E066AFB0" alt="http://img.huffingtonpost.com/asset/scalefit_630_noupscale/55d4ec431d00002f0014552a.png"></span><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Henry
J. Kaiser Family Foundation <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">The pharmaceutical industry is only now entering an era where
<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/04/business/sales-of-sovaldi-new-gilead-hepatitis-c-drug-soar-to-10-3-billion.html" target="_blank">
<span style="color:blue">drugs that cost $1,000 a pill</span></a> are becoming less rare, and the public,
<a href="http://www.wsj.com/articles/doctors-object-to-high-cancer-drug-prices-1437624060">
<span style="color:blue">doctors</span></a>, <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/07/29/us-express-scr-cholesterol-idUSKCN0Q321520150729">
<span style="color:blue">the health care industry</span></a> and policy makers <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/23/business/drug-companies-pushed-from-far-and-wide-to-explain-high-prices.html">
<span style="color:blue">are taking notice</span></a>. Rising drug costs are a big reason why
<a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/12/03/health-care-spending_n_6256166.html" target="_blank">
<span style="color:blue">national health care spending began slowing down</span></a> at a faster rate last year after a stretch of historically low growth. Health insurance companies, employers that provide health coverage to workers and
<a href="http://www.nationaljournal.com/health-care/how-states-are-working-to-control-prescription-drug-costs-20150601" target="_blank">
<span style="color:blue">state governments</span></a> are seeking new ways to squeeze down their expenses on medicines.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">And
<a href="http://www.nationaljournal.com/health-care/2016-candidates-drug-prices-soaring-20150421">
<span style="color:blue">the 2016 presidential campaign could elevate drug prices to a big political issue
</span></a>after Obamacare has dominated the health care debate for years. On the presidential campaign trail, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has been talking up proposals to reduce pharmaceutical costs, such as relaxing a federal law prohibiting
Medicare from setting drug prices like it does for doctor and hospital fees.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">According to the Kaiser Family Foundation survey, the public might be open to greater government intervention
in the prescription drug market. Asked generally, a slim majority of respondents favored "competition in the marketplace" to "regulation by the federal government."
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">But when asked what specific solutions to high drug costs America should employ, and which ones would work, people
seem to favor more government intervention. More than 80 percent, for example, support Medicare negotiating drug prices, and large majorities back establishing legal limits on how much pharmaceutical manufacturers can charge and allowing Americans to buy lower-priced
medicines from Canada.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><img border="0" width="630" height="460" id="Picture_x0020_12" src="cid:image006.png@01D0DB5A.E066AFB0" alt="http://img.huffingtonpost.com/asset/scalefit_630_noupscale/55d4ec751700006e00568051.png"></span><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Henry
J. Kaiser Family Foundation <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
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