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The Democratic Strategist

Political Strategy for a Permanent Democratic Majority

Teixeira: Voucherizing Medicare a Non-Starter With Public

The Republican obsession with voucherizing Medicare is a cornerstone of their ideology, but it remains one of the least popular ideas with the public, as TDS Founding Editor Ruy Teixeira points out in this week’s ‘Public Opinion Snapshot‘:

In the latest Kaiser Health Tracking poll, the public–by a 59 percent-37 percent margin–favored continuing Medicare as it is today, with the government guaranteeing the same set of health benefits, over giving seniors a fixed amount of money to purchase either a private health plan or traditional Medicare.
Even more overwhelmingly, in the latest CBS News/New York Times poll, 78 percent of respondents favored continuing Medicare as it is today. Just 14 percent supported changing Medicare to a system where the government gives seniors a fixed amount on money to purchase health insurance.

Teixeira concludes that It is “highly improbable” that voucherizing Medicare is ever going to get any forward traction with the public. “The idea started out unpopular and is only continuing to lose support. Smart conservatives should start looking around for another big idea because this one is going nowhere.”

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