About 1 in 5 U.S. adults say that they or someone in their household has been unable to afford drugs that were prescribed to them in the past 12 months, according to a new poll from Gallup and West Health.

The survey found that 22.9 percent of U.S. adults said there had been a time in the past year when their household was unable to pay for drugs they were prescribed, up from 18.9 percent in January.

ADVERTISEMENT

The poll illustrates the struggles many Americans have paying for medication at a time when lowering drug prices is an intense subject of debate in Washington.

President Trump Donald John TrumpFederal prosecutor speaks out, says Barr 'has brought shame' on Justice Dept. Former Pence aide: White House staffers discussed Trump refusing to leave office Progressive group buys domain name of Trump's No. 1 Supreme Court pick MORE has railed against high drug prices and has proposed some steps, including linking certain Medicare drug prices to lower ones paid in other countries, but he has not taken any major action that has gone into effect yet.

The Gallup survey finds the public is mostly negative on Trump’s performance on the issue so far, with 66 percent of adults saying he has done “not very much” or “none at all” to fight high drug prices. Twenty percent said he had done a “fair amount” and 7 percent said “a great deal.”

Speaker Nancy Pelosi Nancy PelosiDemocratic senator to party: 'A little message discipline wouldn't kill us' Overnight Health Care: New wave of COVID-19 cases builds in US | Florida to lift all coronavirus restrictions on restaurants, bars | Trump stirs questions with 0 drug coupon plan Overnight Defense: Appeals court revives House lawsuit against military funding for border wall | Dems push for limits on transferring military gear to police | Lawmakers ask for IG probe into Pentagon's use of COVID-19 funds MORE (D-Calif.) is pushing a sweeping bill to allow the secretary of Health and Human Services to negotiate lower prices on up to 250 drugs per year. Republicans oppose that measure, warning it would hinder the development of new treatments, but some are supporting smaller measures like a bill in the Senate from Sens. Chuck Grassley Charles (Chuck) Ernest GrassleyGOP lawmakers distance themselves from Trump comments on transfer of power The Hill's 12:30 Report: Ginsburg lies in repose Top GOP senators say Hunter Biden's work 'cast a shadow' over Obama Ukraine policy MORE (R-Iowa) and Ron Wyden Ronald (Ron) Lee WydenHillicon Valley: Subpoenas for Facebook, Google and Twitter on the cards | Wray rebuffs mail-in voting conspiracies | Reps. raise mass surveillance concerns On The Money: Anxious Democrats push for vote on COVID-19 aid | Pelosi, Mnuchin ready to restart talks | Weekly jobless claims increase | Senate treads close to shutdown deadline Democratic senators ask inspector general to investigate IRS use of location tracking service MORE (D-Ore.).

Drug companies say that the problem is insurers and pharmacy benefit managers who are not passing discounts they receive on to consumers.