SENIORS OPINION HEALTH CARE LAW

Organizing Seniors: Moving the Dial


Reaching seniors with the truth about the health care law can be a challenge, but recent polls are showing a shift in opinion. Go to them and be prepared to answer specific questions.

Seeing benefits in the Affordable Care Act has been a challenge for seniors across the country. During the debate to pass the health care law, seniors heard a lot of misinformation from opponents of the law. Although combating these messages is challenging, public opinion among seniors is beginning to change. Last week, Kaiser Family Foundation released their latest tracking poll, which revealed increased support among seniors for the health law. This past month, unfavorable views of the law decreased by 7 percentage points and favorable views increased 8 percentage points. See the full report here: http://www.kff.org/kaiserpolls/8166.cfm.

This change is only the beginning. With an array of different policies in the law, it can become difficult to generalize about Medicare as a whole when speaking the people over 65. However, there have been real tangible benefits already in effect for seniors, such as Medicare doughnut hole rebate checks and free preventive services in Medicare. Advocates have found that stopping by local senior centers, senior living communities, and social clubs is the best way to reach seniors and spread the message about the benefits of the Affordable Care Act.