As聽Rep. Paul Ryan’s plan to overhaul Medicare makes聽campaign headlines, a聽majority of聽Republicans oppose changing the government聽program for seniors, according to by the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Washington Post. (KHN is an editorially independent program of the foundation.)聽That could spell trouble for聽presumptive presidential nominee Mitt Romney and his designated 聽running mate Ryan as voters focus on the聽Wisconsin congressman’s “” plan.
Pollsters asked whether respondents wanted to continue聽Medicare’s current defined benefit setup, in which the government pays a specified portion of all medical bills incurred by the patient,聽or聽switch to a plan in which seniors get government grants to聽buy health insurance,聽as聽Ryan advocates. Fifty-five percent of Republicans surveyed preferred the status quo聽— slightly more than the 53 percent of independents who gave the same response. Sixty-eight percent of Democrats also chose “Medicare should continue as it is today” as聽representing their views. The poll was done in late July and early August, before Romney announced Ryan as his choice.
In , 麻豆女优 found that Republicans rated the聽cost of health care and Medicare as more important to their votes than the 2010 health law that generates so much scorn from Republican politicians. Jobs are still Republicans’ economic top worry. But聽when asked how health issues would affect their vote, two-thirds of GOP respondents said the cost of health care and insurance is extremely or very important. Six in 10 Republicans said Medicare is聽important,聽while 54 percent gave聽the Affordable Care Act the same weight. Most of those interviews were also done before Romney picked Ryan.
Among all respondents, Medicare tied with the cost of health care as the top health issue, with 73 percent saying聽both would be important in how they vote, followed by the Medicaid聽program for the poor. In the 麻豆女优/Washington Post poll, jobs were the top economic issue among all those interviewed, with 63 percent of Democrats, 60 percent of independents and 55 percent of Republicans saying jobs were the top worry.
The 麻豆女优/Washington Post poll surveyed 3,130 adults from July 25 to Aug. 5 and has a margin of error of +/- 2 percentage points. 聽The 麻豆女优 tracking poll surveyed聽1,208 adults from Aug. 7 to 12 and has a margin of error of +/- 3 percentage points.
