Likely state voters in poll favor Prop. 61 limits on drug costs

IMAGE DISTRIBUTED FOR AIDS HEALTHCARE FOUNDATION - Supporters of Proposition 61, the California Drug Price Relief Act, gathered atop a double-decker bus at La Placita Olvera, the heart of Los Angeles, to launch the �On the Road for Lower Drug Prices,� YES ON 61 Tour across California, on Monday, Sept. 19, 2016. Coalition members, community leaders and supporters laid out how Proposition 61 will lower drug prices. (Gilles Mingasson/AP Images for AIDS Healthcare Foundation) less IMAGE DISTRIBUTED FOR AIDS HEALTHCARE FOUNDATION - Supporters of Proposition 61, the California Drug Price Relief Act, gathered atop a double-decker bus at La Placita Olvera, the heart of Los Angeles, to ... more Photo: Gilles Mingasson, Associated Press Photo: Gilles Mingasson, Associated Press Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Likely state voters in poll favor Prop. 61 limits on drug costs 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

A November ballot measure that would limit the prices state agencies pay for prescription drugs is leading by more than a 3-1 ratio among likely voters, but more than one-third of the electorate remains undecided, according to a new Field-IGS Poll released Saturday.

The online survey conducted between Sept. 7 and Sept. 13 found Proposition 61 favored by 50 percent of the representative sample of voters and opposed by 16 percent, with 34 percent undecided.

Prop. 61 would prohibit state agencies from paying more than the price the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs pays drug manufacturers for the same drugs. The medications are provided to 4.2 million Californians, including state employees, state prisoners and some Medi-Cal recipients, whose health care is covered by the state. Only Medi-Cal recipients in fee-for-service health plans — not the 10 million low-income people in Medi-Cal managed-care plans — would be covered by the price ceilings.

The opposition campaign, funded by the pharmaceutical industry, has said it plans to spend nearly $100 million to defeat Prop. 61. Roger Salazar, a spokesman for Yes on Prop. 61, said Friday that opponents have already spent $30 million on a message that voters don’t appear to be buying.

The new poll “tells us Californians are sick and tired of high drug prices and are ready to send the pharmaceutical industry a message,” Salazar said.

He said supporters of Prop. 61 have raised $15 million, some of which they spent gathering signatures to qualify the measure for the ballot.

Despite the poll numbers, Kathy Fairbanks, spokeswoman for the No on Prop. 61 Coalition, said, “We are confident voters will reject this flawed measure when they learn more about it. Leading veterans, health and patient advocacy groups are opposed to Prop. 61 because it would increase prescription drug costs, reduce patient access to medicines, and hurt our nation’s veterans.”

While the industry is funding the opposition campaign, the most visible objections have come from veterans organizations and some consumer advocacy groups. Veterans fear that drug companies would respond to the California price limits by raising the prices they charge to the Department of Veterans Affairs. Consumer groups say manufacturers could try to offset price cuts for state-purchased drugs by charging more to private insurers.

Supporters of Prop. 61, including the California Nurses Association and the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, say it could be a big step toward lower drug prices nationwide at a time of nationwide anger over price-spiking — for example, the $1,000-per-pill cost of a hepatitis C medication and the $600 charge for EpiPens, used to treat life-threatening allergic reactions.

The new poll found at least a plurality of support for Prop. 61 in all regions of the state, among both men and women and among all racial and ethnic groups, age groups and income levels. Self-described conservatives favored it by 39 to 28 percent, liberals by 61 to 6 percent, Republicans by 33 to 26 percent and Democrats by 62 to 8 percent.

One reason for the large number of undecided voters may be the uncertain fiscal impact of Prop. 61, the polling organizations said. The state’s official ballot summary, shown to those taking part in the survey, says the potential savings are “of an unknown amount,” depending on how the measure gets implemented and how drug manufacturers respond to the price limits.

The responses came from 943 Californians who said they were likely to vote in November and who were chosen to reflect the state’s population of registered voters, regionally and demographically. The pollsters said the online sampling methods do not enable them to calculate the margin of error that normally accompanies random telephone surveys.

Bob Egelko is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: begelko@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @egelko