Poll: Most Americans Say Medicare Works Well

From the Kaiser Family Foundation

In terms of the public’s perceptions of how well the Medicare and Medicaid programs are working, most Americans (60 percent) say Medicare is working well for most seniors and half (50 percent) say Medicaid is working well for most low-income people covered by the program, although about three in ten say the programs are not working well. Those currently covered by each program are more likely to say they are working well, including three-quarters of people covered by Medicare (75 percent) and about two-thirds of those currently covered by Medicaid (65 percent).3 While most of those covered by the programs say they are working well, views of the programs may be informed by their own personal experience with their health coverage. Those who say they have experienced a variety of problems – such as difficulty affording health care or having had to delay or forego medical care because of the cost – are more likely than those who haven’t reported such problems to say Medicare and Medicaid are not working well (see Section 4 for more details).