Opposition to cutting Medicare has dominated the news and public debate in recent weeks but a new poll by Kaiser shows Americans are equally resistant to changes in Medicaid. The Kaiser monthly tracking poll found that 60% of Americans like Medicaid the way it is.  Public support for Medicaid was similar to that of Medicare and Social Security — two programs that have long enjoyed “teflon” protection from cuts due to their widespread support.

“While conventional wisdom and recent public opinion polling has suggested that dramatic changes in Medicare would be politically unpopular, the new poll findings illustrate that major alterations to Medicaid also could strike a negative chord with many Americans,” according to a Kaiser press release announcing the poll results.

For clues about what is driving this strong support for Medicaid, we look to some of the top findings:

• About half of Americans (51%) report some personal connection to Medicaid, including having received health coverage, long-term care, or Medicare premium assistance from Medicaid themselves (20%), or having a friend or family member who has gotten this type of assistance (31%). 
• Those who see the program as important cite a variety of reasons, including knowing that a safety net exists to protect low-income people (71% say this is a major reason) and feeling they or a family member may need to rely on Medicaid in the future (63%).
• Many who view the program as important also cite the fact that they or someone they know has received health coverage (58%) or long-term care services (43%) from Medicaid.
• Among the one in five adults who have personally ever received Medicaid benefits, the vast majority (86%) say that their overall experiences with the program have been positive, including nearly half (45%) who say they were “very” positive. 
• As Medicaid will expand under the Affordable Care Act the poll also made an important finding in that eight in ten adults (81%) say that if they were uninsured, needed health care, and qualified for Medicaid, they would enroll in the program.

The poll comes at a time of intense debate when the stakes couldn’t be higher for Medicaid and its future.  Last month, the House of Representatives approved a budget plan that would change Medicaid from a guaranteed plan that responded to fluctuating needs to a capped block grant program that would shift costs to states, local communities, hospitals, health care providers and families least able to pay.  Included in the same plan, Medicare would be transformed into a voucher program that would force seniors to fend for themselves and important provisions of the new health reform law would be repealed.  The Senate has not voted on a budget plan yet (will be doing so later today) but is unlikely to pass such a draconian measure.  These issues will likely be addressed through bipartisan negotiations around legislation to raise the debt ceiling.

“If you watch the debate about the deficit and entitlements, you would think that almost everyone has a problem with the Medicaid program and wants to change it, or cut it – or both,” Kaiser President and CEO Drew Altman said in a statement released with the poll. “The big surprise in this month’s tracking poll is that one group who does not want to cut Medicaid is the American people.” 

The poll also found that the House budget plan to “voucherize” Medicare continues to be unpopular while the new health reform law is gaining a little ground.  I encourage you to read the entire poll and see for yourself how strongly the public supports maintaining a strong health care life line to those who need it the most.