Blog - Poll Finds Vast Majority of Seniors Can’t Answer Simple Questions About Reform

Author:

Tim Hiller

July 27, 2010

Issue Areas:

A new poll, conducted by the National Council on Aging (NCOA) finds that Seniors, by and large, do not understand what is in the recently passed Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA):

NCOA identified the top 12 facts that every senior should know about the health reform law. The “Straight Talk” poll reveals that only 17% of seniors knew the correct answers to more than half the factual questions posed about key aspects of new law, and only 9% knew the correct answers to at least two-thirds of the questions. None of the 636 older adults interviewed for the poll knew the correct answers to all 12 of the factual questions…

The poll revealed that even questions with the most direct bearing on seniors and their health drew high numbers of incorrect answers. For example, only 22% of seniors understood that the new law would not cut their basic Medicare benefits. Almost twice as many seniors (42%) held the incorrect view that the law would cut their basic Medicare benefits, while 37% said they did not know.

This poll provides strong evidence that seniors –the age group most likely to vote—are confused about the new law. The poll results underscore the success that anti-reform groups have had in spreading misinformation and confusion about the contents of reform. Moreover, if you subscribe to the belief that seniors are likely to disapprove of things they don’t understand, then health reform could drive seniors out to the polls, but not in the way that proponents of reform may like.

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