The latest tracking poll by the Kaiser Family Foundation finds strong opposition to the notion of Medicare cuts or premium increases. But the survey released today also finds public opinion on the recent Republican proposal to reshape Medicare largely unformed, malleable and open to persuasion.
The new poll confirms many of the recent findings of other recent national surveys. A majority of Americans (57 percent) want "no reductions" in federal spending on Medicare, while only 10 percent support "major reductions" and 32 percent favor "minor reductions." Kaiser also finds 84 percent opposed, and 59 percent strongly opposed, to "requiring all seniors to pay higher Medicare premiums."
Yet it also finds Americans unfamiliar with the specifics of the plan advanced by House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan. The Wisconsin Republican's budget proposal would transform the Medicare program into a system that would provide seniors with "vouchers," direct payments for private health plans (also referred to by Ryan as "premium support"), rather than direct payment for their medical bills. The new Kaiser survey finds that large majorities of Americans don't know what to make of either label:
The new poll confirms many of the recent findings of other recent national surveys. A majority of Americans (57 percent) want "no reductions" in federal spending on Medicare, while only 10 percent support "major reductions" and 32 percent favor "minor reductions." Kaiser also finds 84 percent opposed, and 59 percent strongly opposed, to "requiring all seniors to pay higher Medicare premiums."
Yet it also finds Americans unfamiliar with the specifics of the plan advanced by House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan. The Wisconsin Republican's budget proposal would transform the Medicare program into a system that would provide seniors with "vouchers," direct payments for private health plans (also referred to by Ryan as "premium support"), rather than direct payment for their medical bills. The new Kaiser survey finds that large majorities of Americans don't know what to make of either label:
