Saving Medicare Is A US Voters' Priority

Voters in the 1996 US Presidential elections appear to have put arelatively high priority on ensuring the future viability of Medicare, according to an article in last week's Journal of the American Medical Association. However, many voters said they don't believe it is necessary to make major cuts in future Medicare spending.

Working from two election day exit polls and three national opinion surveys, Robert Blendon and colleagues at Harvard University, Boston, examined what the 1996 Presidential and Congressional election results say about health care - and what message they send to elected officials, the health care community and the American people.

Age Differences They found that views on Medicare were influenced strongly by the age of the voter; Medicare/social security (29%) ranked as the top issue among voters aged 60 years or more, and only 8% of voters younger than 30 cited this issue. 50% of those who said Medicare/social security was the most important issue in deciding their Presidential vote were aged 60-plus.