Seniors who are Republicans, and younger ones too, sent some deficit-cutters to Washington in the mid-term election—ready to whack and whack hard at costs.

Now, says a poll, “substantial shares of Republicans are reluctant to change or cut Medicare.”

Overall, there is a 2:1 margin among seniors, who want Medicare kept as it is.

Kaiser Health News

“Senior citizens, whose fierce opposition to the 2010 health overhaul law helped propelRepublicans’ midterm election gains, have little appetite for the House GOP’s plans to turn Medicare into a voucher-type program that sends beneficiaries to private plans but limits the amount of federal funding, according to a poll released today.

“The survey this month by the Kaiser Family Foundation found just 30 percent of seniors supported the idea of restructuring Medicare into a system where seniors are given government subsidies to shop for private coverage. In contrast, 62 percent of seniors said they wanted Medicare to be left alone with the program continuing to guarantee the same benefits to all enrollees.

“Overall, the poll found Americans evenly divided on dramatically changing Medicare, part of a Republican plan to reduce the federal deficit. Fifty percent of respondents say they wanted Medicare to remain as is while 46 percent said it should be changed.”

The summary from the Kaiser Health Tracking Poll says:

“While Congress and the president debate different approaches to reducing the deficit, the latest Kaiser Health Tracking Poll indicates that the public at large, and seniors specifically, are unfamiliar with the terms Washington is using in talking about potential changes to Medicare to address the deficit. Initial public reaction is fairly evenly split when a premium support/voucher program like the one in House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan’s “Path to Prosperity” proposal is described, but seniors prefer to keep the current Medicare system by a 2‐to‐1 margin. However, the survey finds that arguments about potential positive and negative consequences of such a plan have a big impact on public opinion, suggesting that whichever side does a better job getting its arguments across may ultimately win the public’s favor. Further, the public remains opposed to cutting Medicare spending as a way to reduce the deficit, the vast majority are opposed to raising Medicare premiums for all seniors, and seniors are the only group in which a majority favors raising the age of Medicare eligibility. While partisan differences exist in the public’s reactions to various deficit‐reduction proposals affecting Medicare, these divisions are not nearly as deep as we’ve seen when it comes to health care reform, and substantial shares of Republicans are reluctant to change or cut Medicare. Opinion on the Affordable Care Act is in a dead heat this month, with 41 percent each expressing favorable and unfavorable opinions of the law…”

Sources: Kaiser Health News, April 27, 2011; Kaiser Health Tracking Poll, April 27, 2011