United States: Several older people prefer to be anxious about Medicare, as suggested by a survey conducted on Wednesday.
Survey Findings
According to the West Health Gallup 2024 Survey on Aging in America, around 74 percent of Americans in the age group 50 to 64 are “extremely worried or worried” about Medicare not being “available when you become eligible to receive it,” as the Hill reported.
In 2023, 61 percent of the same age group said they were concerned about Medicare’s access whenever they were eligible for it, a finding that represents a 13-point increase from the current study.
According to Timothy Lash, the president of West Health, “Threats to Medicare and Social Security loom large, and people are worried policymakers won’t do enough to protect and strengthen them.”
He added, “These safety net programs are part of the fabric of aging that millions of older Americans rely upon, so any potential disruption or question marks around them is cause for alarm and deserving of greater attention and action from policymakers.”
Despite these concerns, recent projections show a positive trend in funding sources for Medicare. The latest estimates suggest that funding will be exhausted in 2036 for hospital services costs for older and disabled beneficiaries, an improvement from the previous year’s estimate of 2029.
According to the research director of the Gallup National Health and Well-Being Index, Dan Witters, “The fact that such a large percentage of U.S. adults observe little prioritization of issues affecting older Americans underscores the extent to which such prioritization could influence voting preferences, particularly among those already eligible for the federal safety net programs and those that will be soon,” as the Hill reported.
Survey Details
The West Health Gallup was conducted from November 13, 2023, to January 8, and received responses from over 5,184 adults.
The margin is plus or minus 1.5 percentage points at the 95 percent level of confidence in the broadly 50/50 or 50 percent response ratio. The overall sample would feature a 90 percent non-response rate, or a 10 percent response rate, and as such, the overall margin of error would further be plus or minus one percentage point.
As for age subgroups they are characterized by greater fluctuations defined as the margin of error and can fluctuate within the range of 3 points to 5 points.