Poll shows little suport for Medicare cuts

Having an “adult conversation” on entitlement reform is going to be a tough sell for most American adults, according to a new poll.

Less than one in five adults support spending cuts in the Medicare healthcare program for seniors as a means to significantly rein in the massive federal budget deficit, according to a new NBC News/Wall Street Journal survey. More than half (54 percent) said they opposed such a measure, while 27 percent had no opinion.

Forty-six percent said significant cuts to Medicare were “totally unacceptable,” while 7 percent said they are appropriate. Thirty-five percent said cuts to state Medicaid healthcare programs for the poor were equally unacceptable, and 9 percent said they were “totally acceptable.”

The poll was conducted almost two weeks after President Obama passed on entitlement reform in his 2012 budget, urging lawmakers on both sides of the aisle to have an “adult conversation” with his administration about how to gain control over skyrocketing entitlement costs. Republican lawmakers have criticized Obama for not proposing reforms, and have promised to pitch their own solutions in the spring.

The poll also found little support for other controversial healthcare measures. More than a quarter (28 percent) strongly opposed a plan backed by Budget Chairman Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) to transform the Medicare program into a voucher system, while 12 percent said it was “totally acceptable.” In the absence of a GOP Medicare plan, Democrats have tried to tie Republicans to the Ryan plan as numerous GOP lawmakers have tried to distance themselves from it.

Just over half (51 percent) of survey respondents said they opposed GOP lawmakers’ efforts to cut off funding for part or all of the new healthcare reform law, while 46 supported it.

Most respondents (53 percent) also opposed GOP efforts to eliminate funding to Planned Parenthood for family planning and preventive healthcare services. A long-term spending bill passed by the House two weeks ago would have choked off federal funding to Planned Parenthood because of opposition from most Republicans and a handful of Democrats to abortion care provided by the organization. Forty-five percent of survey respondents said eliminating Planned Parenthood funds would be acceptable.