Results of a new poll conducted by KFF (formerly the Kaiser Family Foundation) show that a large majority of Americans have favorable views of Medicare and Medicaid, regardless of political party affiliation.
While President Donald Trump’s incoming administration and a new Congress have discussed slashing Medicaid funding —reporting this month from Politico mentioned potentially $2.3 trillion in Medicaid cuts — KFF’s polling, released Jan. 17, showed that 77% of respondents said they have very or somewhat favorable views of Medicaid.
Asked if they have a favorable or unfavorable opinion of Medicare, 82% of respondents said favorable, while 18% said unfavorable.
Respondents identifying as Democrats were more likely to hold favorable views of both Medicare (90%) and Medicaid (87%) than those identifying as Republicans (75% and 63%, respectively). Respondents identifying as independents had favorable scores of 84% and 81%, respectively.
Asked if the government is spending too much, not enough, or about the right amount on Medicare and Medicaid, 51% of respondents said “not enough.”
The future of health-care affordability
Respondents were pessimistic about health-care costs in the next few years, with 57% saying they expected health care to become less affordable. While there were some statistical differences along party lines, even 54% of Trump voters, KFF reported, said they expect health care to become more expensive. Among respondents identifying as Democrats, 60% expected health care to become more expensive in the coming years.
KFF asked if respondents were worried that they would not receive the same level of Medicare or Medicaid benefits going forward compared to benefits they currently received. Among Medicare respondents, 81% said they were very worried or somewhat worried that they’d receive reduced benefits. Among Medicaid beneficiaries, 72% said they were very worried or somewhat worried about reduced benefits going forward.
More than 1,300 adults in the United States participated in the poll, conducted Jan. 7-14. KFF is an independent source for health policy research, polling and journalism.
