Clinton to propose new prescription drug proposal this week

WASHINGTON -- Hillary Rodham Clinton says she soon will roll out a proposal for controlling the cost of prescription drugs -- a key fix to President Barack Obama's signature health care law.

"We have a lot of positives. But there are issues that need to be addressed," the Democratic presidential frontrunner she said Sunday on CBS' "Face the Nation. "I'm going to address them this week, starting with how we're going to try to control the cost of skyrocketing prescription drugs. It's something I hear about everywhere I go."

It was the first time Clinton's signaled she'll address that subject in detail since she announced her bid to become the nation's first female president.

She also suggested Sunday the U.S. should increase the number of Syrian refugees it will accept from 10,000 to 65,000. She took a pledge to avoid negative campaign attacks against a key rival, Sen. Bernie Sanders, and said she's not doing anything to prepare for a potential challenge from Vice President Joe Biden.

Any proposal on prescription drug costs could find a big audience.

Polls show the public remains split over Obama's 2010 health-care law, which has been upheld by the Supreme Court and survived dozens of congressional votes to repeal it. One survey in August suggested Americans are more concerned with consumer issues.

The nonpartisan Kaiser Family Foundation found in August that 72 percent of respondents said the cost of prescription medications is unreasonable.

Regardless of party affiliation, large majorities supported requiring pharmaceutical companies to disclose how they set prices, allowing Medicare to negotiate drug prices on behalf of beneficiaries, limiting what drug companies can charge for some medications and allowing consumers to get prescriptions filled by pharmacies in Canada.

About half of Americans take prescription medication, and of those, a quarter said they have difficulty paying for their drugs, the Kaiser poll found.

Clinton will be campaigning today in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and Little Rock, Arkansas, and in Des Moines, Iowa, on Tuesday.