Biden's Medicare price negotiation push is broadly popular. But he's not getting much credit

President Joe Biden spoke about his administration's plans to protect Medicare and lower health care costs in February 2023.

Patrick Semansky / Patrick Semansky

President Joe Biden is trumpeting Medicare’s new powers to negotiate directly with drugmakers on the cost of prescription medications — but a poll shows that any immediate political boost that Biden gets for enacting the overwhelmingly popular policy may be limited.

Three-quarters of Americans, or 76%, favor allowing the federal health care program for the elderly to negotiate prices for certain prescription drugs. That includes strong majorities of Democrats (86%) and Republicans (66%), according to a new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. About one in five Americans are neutral on the issue, while 6% outright oppose it.

But the poll shows Biden’s approval rating, at 40%, is about where it’s been for the last year. Americans are split on how the Democratic president is handling the issue of prescription drug prices — 48% approve, making it a relative strong point for him, but 50% disapprove.