A new poll finds Americans greatly value the potential benefits of prescription drugs for their families, but most believe they cost too much money and many struggle to pay for needed meds. A campaign issue, perhaps?

Four in 10 Americans (and half of those regularly taking at least one medication) report experiencing at least one of three cost-related concerns in their family: 16 percent say it is a “serious” problem to pay for prescription drugs; 29 percent say they have not filled a prescription in the past two years because of the cost; and 23 percent say they have cut pills in half or skipped doses in order to make a medication last longer.

People are most likely to report one of these three issues if they lack drug coverage (52 percent), if they have low incomes (54 percent) or if they take four or more drugs regularly (59 percent), according to the survey, which was conducted jointly by USA Today and public opinion researchers at the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Harvard School of Public Health. They polled 1,695 adults ages 18 and older this past January.

The survey finds that while the public values their meds, they don’t like prices charged by drugmakers and are suspicious of their motivation. Nearly eight in 10 Americans say that the cost of meds is unreasonable, and seven in 10 say drugmakers are too concerned about making profits and not concerned enough about helping people. Moreover, 64 percent say that there is not enough government regulation to limit prices. Nearly six in 10 say insurers should only pay for new drugs if they are proven to be not just safe but also more effective than existing ones. (This is the complete report).

At the same time, the public overwhelmingly believes that recent advances in prescription drugs provide benefits - 73 percent say that meds developed over the past 20 years have improved lives, and 63 percent say the same about their own and the lives of family members. In addition, 59 percent say prescription drugs reduce the need for expensive medical procedures and hospitalizations.

Despite recent controversies, 55 percent think drugmakers do enough to test and monitor safety 55 percent trust drugmakers at least somewhat to quickly notify the public about safety concerns. Majorities also think that drugmakers act in an ethical way when testing their products on people - 62 percent- and on animals - 56 percent.