Social Security, Health Care Are Top Concerns for Older Florida Voters

Among voters age 50 and over, 82 percent listed Social Security as being very important and 78 percent said health care. National security (75 percent) and Medicare (74 percent) were also key topics of interest, followed by jobs and the economy (63 percent), guns (62 percent) and drug prices (61 percent).

“Seniors are not one-issue voters,” says Tyler Sinclair, managing director of client services at Morning Consult, the firm that conducted the poll for AARP and Politico Magazine. “When we look at the rest of the data we collected, other issues are still important to them, such as guns, immigration, jobs and the economy or taxes.”

When questioned about their Social Security concerns, 61 percent of the 50-plus voters said they did not approve of the way Congress was handling the nation’s retirement program. But some 66 percent said they were very or somewhat confident that Social Security would be there for them when they needed it. Younger respondents were less sure, as only 53 percent of all registered voters said they were confident of having Social Security benefits when the time came.

Although Sinclair said he was surprised that Social Security was of more concern to older voters than health care, he attributed that finding to the concerns seniors have about their incomes. Among the 50-plus that were polled, 49 percent said their income was falling behind their cost of living.

The older voters gave Congress low marks for its job performance on health care, with 71 percent disapproving and 19 percent approving. When asked about health care costs, 24 percent blamed health insurers for focusing more on profits than people’s health, while some 20 percent called out waste, fraud and abuse and 19 percent cited drug companies charging too much for medications. And nearly two-thirds of those polled — 63 percent — said they often worry about being able to afford  health care  expenses.

Florida voters are also very concerned about their ability to pay for caregiving for a spouse, parent or other loved one as they age. Among voters ages 50 to 54, 70 percent strongly or somewhat strongly agree that they won’t be able to afford such care. That’s the age group most likely sandwiched between taking care of their children and also providing for a parent or other older family member. Among those ages 55 and older, 57 percent are anxious about their ability to pay for caregiving for a loved one.

Morning Consult conducted the poll by surveying 1,199 registered voters, including 676 voters over the age of 50, on May 29 and 30. The online poll results have a margin of error of plus or minus three percentage points for all voters surveyed and plus or minus four percentage points for voters over 50.