Poll: Prescription Drugs Major Issue 

By WILL LESTER, The Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) - About six in 10 Americans consider prescription drugs a "very important" issue in their vote for president, an Associated Press poll indicates, and about that many say either they or someone in their family takes such medicines regularly.

Mary Jane Byrd of Alturas, Fla., said she and her husband have managed to pay for their many prescriptions so far but "there will come a time when it will eat up our savings."

"We're also concerned for a lot of other people who are older than us and just on Social Security," said Byrd, 53, noting that her mother has to live hours away so she can be closer to a health maintenance organization that will cover her drug costs.

Two-thirds of people over 55 - one of the most active voting groups - consider prescription drugs very important in their vote, according to the poll conducted for the AP by ICR of Media, Pa.

Four of five people with incomes under $15,000 - a group less likely to vote - consider the issue very important. Women and blacks were more likely to feel that way than men and whites.

Asked what issue was most important in deciding how to vote, 23 percent said education, which usually leads such lists. Moral values was second, followed by Social Security and Medicare. The poll of 1,007 adults was taken Oct. 4-8 and has an error margin of 3 percentage points.

The high cost of prescription drugs isn't just a sore point for seniors, however.

Tisha McGuire, a 19-year-old insurance clerk at a doctor's office in Lufkin, Texas, already understands the importance of affordable medicine.

"I live with my grandfather, and we take care of him ... he's on a heart transplant list and we don't get any help with his medication," she said, noting that some patients at her office struggle with their medicine bills. "There are older people who come who can't pay for them."

Asked which presidential candidate would do a better job of handling prescription drugs for seniors, 46 percent said Democrat Al Gore and 33 percent said Republican George W. Bush. Among Republicans, 21 percent said Gore would be better, and 10 percent of Democrats said Bush.

Gore has proposed prescription drug help to all seniors in the Medicare program; Bush would help the elderly poor and subsidize choice in drug plans for other Medicare beneficiaries.

Bush supporters were about evenly split on whether prescription drugs are very important in their vote considerations, while Gore supporters said by 3-to-1 that it was very important.

"I get the feeling they want people to be dependent on government," said Republican Robert McCain, a retired correctional officer in Kinston, N.C. "It would be nice to have the coverage, but can they really afford it?"

Pam Sheaf, a 35-year-old Republican from Sumter, S.C., thinks Bush would be better. Married to a retired serviceman, she hopes Bush's promise to strengthen the military includes health care.

"We've lost a lot of medical benefits in the military," she said.

A fourth of those polled said they have had problems in the past year paying medical bills, and this group was more inclined, 69 percent, to think prescription drugs were a very important issue. Of those who have not faced such difficulties, about half thought the issue was very important.

For some, the issue has other implications.

Democrat John Cavadeas, a 63-year-old janitor living on Michigan's Upper Peninsula, said high medicine prices are keeping him from retiring. A bottle of heartburn pills initially cost him $600 for a three-month supply, though the price has dropped to $285, he said.

"I think they ought to help people who are retired," Cavadeas said. "I don't know what will happen when I retire. There's no problem as long as I keep working. I plan to hang on for a while."

AP-NY-10-15-00 1222EDT