Kaiser poll finds strong, bi-partisan support for traditional Medicare

A Kaiser Family Foundation poll released last week found that a strong majority of Americans want the traditional Medicare program to stay “as it is today.”

According to the poll, 70 percent of respondents—including 53 percent of Republicans—said Medicare should continue guaranteeing senior citizens health insurance and providing a defined set of benefits.

Recent proposals by Republicans would convert Medicare from a program that provides a set of benefits to one that would give beneficiaries a set amount of money to buy either a private health plan or traditional fee-for-service Medicare.

Only 39 percent of Republicans said they thought Medicare should change to a premium support model.