Arizona families are getting squeezed by the rising cost of prescription drugs, which have increased three times faster than the rate of inflation during my lifetime. 

The impact is especially felt in rural communities, where access to care can already be a challenge for many residents. Too often, simple economics force families to make impossible choices between purchasing the medicines they need or paying for food and rent.

What makes the situation more infuriating is knowing that the cost of new drugs has doubled over the past four years alone, and that U.S. patients often pay more than three times as much for the same medications available in other developed countries. As President Trump said, “in case after case, our citizens pay massively higher prices than other nations pay for the same exact pill.”

Fortunately, President Trump is dealing directly with Big Pharma to tackle this crisis. New agreements with drugmakers require them to reduce American drug prices in line with the lowest price paid by consumers in other developed nations. I hope Big Pharma holds up its end of the bargain and reduces prices for U.S. patients, and that these announcements are the first of many steps taken by the pharmaceutical industry to bring relief to the American people.

We live in deeply polarizing times, but frustration with prescription drug costs is a rare issue of bipartisan agreement. A recent survey finds 85% of voters agree their medications have gotten more expensive, and virtually the same percentage of respondents say pharmaceutical companies are mostly to blame. 

Likewise, the vast majority of voters across the political spectrum say they support President Trump in his efforts to work with Big Pharma to rein in costs.

This isn’t just a matter of dollars and cents. Life expectancy among Americans lags behind that of the rest of the developed world. The problem is worse in rural communities like mine, where — according to a new study — the typical adult male will die two years earlier than if he lived in the city. A host of factors are to blame for this discrepancy, including less access to necessary health care in rural areas. But the cost of health care is also to blame, and prescription drug prices play an outsized part in driving those costs up year after year.

If we’re going to reverse this trend, we all have a role to play. Individual responsibility is critical, beginning with people embracing better health habits. State policymakers are making strides to ensure there are enough doctors and nurses in every community across Arizona. And the federal government can and should continue pressing the pharmaceutical industry to ensure Americans get a fair deal when it comes to purchasing the prescription medications they need.

Sen. T.J. Shope, a Republican, is president pro tempore of the Arizona Senate and vice chairman of the Senate Health & Human Services Committee. He lives in Coolidge.