“Sad.” “Pessimistic.” “Angry.”

Those are the words that a majority of Americans use to describe how they feel about the current status of country’s health care system, according to the CVS Health report, “The State of Health Care in the United States.”

Morning Consult surveyed 2,201 adults on behalf of CVS Health, and found that a majority (56 percent) say the health care system works only somewhat well or not at all well for them, while 37 percent say it does work well for them.

Of those respondents in the majority, 65 percent say health care is too expensive, adding that the most “serious and urgent” concerns that need to be addressed are the affordability of health care, health insurance and prescription drugs.

Overwhelming majorities agree the system is in need of reform (73 percent) and is currently too politicized (69 percent).

A plurality of Americans (45 percent) say that too much regulation is currently thwarting innovation in health care. They add that it’s more important to develop innovative new health care solutions than to make health care predictable and stable. However, 35 percent disagree, saying that it’s more important to keep the system predictable and stable than “to experiment with it.”

Still, respondents are hopeful for the future, particularly those who are parents. More than half of parents (52 percent) say they are optimistic their children will have better health care in the future. Why? Innovation: 65 percent say that advances in health care will make lives safer, and 66 percent say innovation will make lives longer.

However, cost will remain an issue, the respondents believe. Less than one third of parents (31 percent) feel that health care will be more affordable for their children at their age than it is for them.

“Public opinion underscores the widespread desire to evolve today’s health care system into one that is affordable and sustainable for today’s health care consumer and for generations of Americans to come,” the authors write. “Fortunately, many stakeholders are working to address these opportunities by improving outcomes and driving down costs.”

CVS Health points to its integrated pharmacy model as one way to help tackle escalating costs, as well as rising rates of chronic disease. There are also “tremendous investments” being made in private-sector innovations and public-private partnerships to improve health care and contain costs, according to the report.

“While we see significant frustration in this poll with the cost and quality of healthcare, there is a sense of hope among Americans about the future,” says CVS Health chief medical officer Troyen A. Brennan in a press release announcing the survey results.

“These findings underscore a challenging set of pain points in the system which should serve as a catalyst for all players in health care – patients, providers, payors and policymakers – to work together to pursue the necessary reforms and innovations that improve quality and affordability and make a complex system easier to navigate for a more empowered health care consumer,” Brennan says.

Instant Insights /

What do Americans think of the current health care system?

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