New Poll: Voters Oppose Cuts to Medicare Advantage in Budget Reconciliation, Say Cuts Would Raise Seniors’ Costs and Reduce Benefits
WASHINGTON — Voters are deeply concerned about potential Medicare Advantage cuts in budget reconciliation, according to a new poll conducted by Winston Group on behalf of Better Medicare Alliance.
The poll found that voters oppose Medicare Advantage cuts as a reconciliation pay-for by a 34-45 margin, with 56% of seniors and 64% of Medicare Advantage seniors opposed. Meanwhile, seven out of 10 voters (72%) and 69% of Republicans agree that if the federal government cuts Medicare Advantage funding, seniors in Medicare Advantage will face higher premiums and out-of-pocket costs. Similarly, 70% of voters overall and 65% of Republicans agree that if the federal government cuts Medicare Advantage funding, seniors in Medicare Advantage will lose important benefits they count on.
“America’s seniors rely on Medicare Advantage, and they care about protecting their coverage,” said Rebecca Buck, Senior Vice President of Communications for Better Medicare Alliance. “Cutting Medicare Advantage, and particularly in-home care, would break a promise to millions of seniors with higher costs and reduced benefits. As this polling shows, seniors want Congress and President Trump to stand up for them and protect Medicare Advantage in budget reconciliation.”
The findings suggest that voters, especially seniors, will be watching for President Donald Trump to keep his promise and oppose Medicare cuts in the budget reconciliation process. Nearly seven in 10 voters (69%) support increased levels of funding for Medicare Advantage approved by the Trump administration earlier this year.
Other key findings:
- Nearly three out of four Medicare Advantage seniors would view policy changes that result in higher costs or benefit reductions as a cut to Medicare.
- Less than a third of voters believe that Medicare Advantage plans inflate diagnoses to receive more money, with Medicare Advantage seniors rejecting this by an overwhelming margin, 6-81.
- 62% of Republican voters and 69% of Medicare Advantage seniors favor existing safeguards in the Medicare Advantage program — including auditing, oversight, and strict documentation — over the “No UPCODE Act” proposal to create new limits on medical information that can be used to determine Medicare Advantage payments.
- Meanwhile, an alternative proposal to increase accountability of in-home health assessments with more oversight and mandated follow-up care outperformed proposed restrictions on in-home health assessments 72-17, with Republicans (73-19) and Medicare Advantage seniors (74-13) also favoring the alternative approach.
Overall, the polling shows strong support for the Medicare Advantage model. Voters agree that Medicare Advantage is helping to modernize the health care system by including telehealth benefits and in-home care, while promoting wellness to keep people as healthy as possible (65-15 agree-disagree).
In line with the administration’s Make American Healthy Again initiative, voters also believe the federal government’s priority for health care spending should be keeping people healthy and out of the hospital even if it costs more to the federal government (62%), over treating patients only when they are sick (30%). This is consistent across Republican voters (61-33), Independents (60-29), and Democrats (66-28).
Winston Group polled a national survey of 1,000 registered voters, with an oversample of 800 seniors. Read the full poll results HERE.
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Better Medicare Alliance is a community of more than one million grassroots beneficiaries and 200+ ally organizations working to improve health care through a strong Medicare Advantage. Learn more at www.bettermedicarealliance.org.