Poll: Concern rises over prescription drug costs

HARTFORD — Greta Stifel worries every day about whether she can afford her cancer medication, which can exceed $22,000 a month.

“I have to continue on this for the rest of my life,” said Stifel, of Berlin. “The last thing I need to figure out is how to afford medications.”

A new poll shows that Stifel is not alone in worrying about the high cost of prescription drugs, and state residents want lawmakers to do something about it.

Conducted in February for the Universal Health

Care Foundation of Connecticut, the poll found 88 percent of those taking prescriptions are worried about paying for their medicine.

Other findings show 20 percent those who responded skip taking their medicine or cut doses in half to save money, and 94 percent support the state taking legal action to prevent price gouging.

“The poll shows very clearly that Connecticut residents want action, regardless of their political affiliation,” said Frances Padilla, president of the foundation. “They should not have to choose between taking their medications as prescribed and putting food on the table.”

A bill before General Assembly seeks to rein in drug prices by increasing price transparency, establishing a trigger point at which manufacturers must explain cost spikes and forcing drugmakers to reveal available rebates.

“This survey confirms that concerns about the rising cost of prescription drugs cross party lines, and there is bipartisan support for legislative action,” said state Senate Minority Leader Len Fasano, R-North Haven.

“When one out of five respondents reports skipping their medication or cutting pills in half to save money, we know we have a problem,” Fasano said.

State Comptroller Kevin Lembo said reducing prescription drug prices is crucial for many state residents.

“We have developed a plan, now progressing in the state Legislature, to deliver financial relief directly to consumers at the pharmacy counter,” Lembo said. “This plan, to deliver drug pricing transparency for the first time in Connecticut, will shine a bright light onto a shadowy market and extend free-market fairness to the pharmaceutical marketplace.”

Ross Kristal, a Yale physician, said he knows well the burden high prescription prices place on patients.

“I’ve seen firsthand the consequences of unfair prescription drug pricing,” said Kristal, who described a patient who was prescribed an inhaler for her pulmonary disease but ended up back in the hospital because she could not afford to buy the medicine. “People in this state should not have to pay inordinate amounts of money to simply breathe.”