Democrats are increasingly referring to high drug prices as the next big health care battle that must be fought and won. 

While millions of Americans have gained health insurance through the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, health care in the U.S. remains far more expensive than in other western countries, in no small part due to the high cost of prescription medication. From a policy perspective, the progressive health reform that Democrats envision must include a strategy to keep drug prices down. 

In addition, recent controversies over exponential price hikes by pharmaceutical companies may have made the public even hungrier than usual for proposals to lower drug costs. In September, just days after news that Turing Pharmaceuticals had raised the price of a life-saving drug commonly used by HIV patients by more than 5000 percent, Hillary Clinton released a plan for monthly caps on out-of-pocket drug costs.