Many older voters still don’t know about Biden’s signature drug price efforts, though awareness has grown

President Joe Biden is campaigning heavily on his efforts to lower health care costs, particularly for senior citizens, but his message may have yet to break through with many people in this key voting bloc.

President Joe Biden is campaigning heavily on his efforts to lower health care costs, particularly for senior citizens, but his message may have yet to break through with many people in this key voting bloc. Many older voters remain unaware of the major provisions in the Democrats’ Inflation Reduction Act that aim to lower drug costs for Medicare enrollees, according to a new KFF poll released Wednesday. This comes even though the president and others in the administration have highlighted the measures repeatedly, including in new ads running this week. Winning the support of senior citizens, a large and reliable voting group, will be important in November’s presidential election. A number of polls show older voters are closely split between Biden and former President Donald Trump this year, with some giving Biden the edge – even though older Americans have favored Republicans in recent presidential elections. The KFF poll found that 48% of voters ages 65 and older are aware that Medicare has the power to negotiate the price of some prescription drugs. One bright spot for Biden is that share is up from 36% in November. Only 40% of older voters know there’s a federal law that places an annual limit on out-of-pocket drug costs for Medicare enrollees, up from 27% in November. And 15% of older voters are aware of the law that penalizes drug companies for increasing prices faster than inflation for those with Medicare coverage, up from 9% in November. Even when it comes to the $35 monthly cap on insulin costs for Medicare enrollees, one of Biden’s most touted provisions that kicked in last year, only 52% of older voters are aware of the provision, roughly the same as in November.