Press Center: News Releases
AARP July 2004 Rx Importation Survey
News Release
July 16, 2004
Summary of Findings
This public survey of individuals aged 50 and over was conducted this past weekend (7/9/2004 8 PM EST to 7/12/2004 9 AM EST). Data was gathered on-line by Knowledge Networks from a nationally representative sample of 1,267 respondents. The margin of error is 2.5 percentage points. 49% of the sample are AARP members. Ideological orientation of the sample is 25% liberal, 34% moderate, and 41% conservative. Selected findings include:
- When presented with the primary arguments for and against
legalizing the re-importation of drugs from Canada, 79% of our
sample believes that re-importation should be legalized. Only 9%
said it should not be legalized, while 13% are still
unsure.
- 73% of adults aged 50+ would consider re-importing drugs if
they had the opportunity to do so. 21% would not consider
re-importation, and 6% are unsure.
- 86% of the older population wants Congress to give top or
high priority to passing legislation that addresses the rising
cost of prescription drugs.
- 79% of the older population considers the issue of access to
lower priced prescription drugs to be very or somewhat important
to their decision about which candidate to vote for this November
(42% very; 37% somewhat). 21% said this issue is not important to
their votes this November.
- 62% of people 50+ would be very or somewhat more likely to
vote for their senators or representative because they supported
legislation to make legal the re-importation of drugs from
Canada. Only 4% said candidate support for this legislation would
make them less likely to vote for their senators or
representative, while 34% said it would make no difference to
their votes.
- When provided with a simple description of the Dorgan/Snowe
legislation, 74% of the older population said they think their
senators should vote to pass it. While only 5% said their
senators should not vote for the bill, a substantial 21% could
not answer this question, suggesting that more information about
the legislation and about re-importation is necessary for a full
public debate.