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Nearly 3 in 10 Americans believe the cost of health care is the most urgent health problem facing the nation today, up from 23% a year ago. This the highest level recorded since 2004 and also one of the highest readings in the trend dating back to 1987, the latest West Health-Gallup Health and Healthcare Survey found.
Satisfaction with health care costs is the lowest that Gallup has recorded in annual trends since 2001. Sixteen percent now say they are satisfied, compared with 19% a year ago and an all-time high of 30% in the first year of the pandemic. However, 57% of adults are satisfied with their own health care costs. Although the level of satisfaction increased during the pandemic, the current level is similar to the rate seen for most of the two decades leading up to 2020.
Two-thirds of Americans say their own health care coverage is excellent or good, slightly below the average of 68% since 2001. At the same time, just 24% rate health care coverage nationally this positively, down from last year’s 28%. In other survey results:
- A record-high 23% now say the health care system is “in a state of crisis,” and another 47% say the system has “major problems.” Fewer adults, 26%, describe the problems as “minor,” and just 3% believe the health care system is free of problems.
- The 81% of Democrats who now say health care is in a state of crisis or has major problems is up 10 points since last year and is similar to the group’s 84% record high in 2018, during Donald Trump’s first term. Meanwhile, Republicans’ negative assessment of the health care system (64%) has dropped seven points since last year.
- Two-thirds of adults believe it is the federal government’s responsibility to ensure that all Americans have health care coverage. This is the highest percentage since 2007 calling for such government intervention, although the reading has been consistently at the majority level over the past decade.
- At the same time that a majority of Americans see a government role in ensuring universal coverage, they are divided over whether the nation’s health care system should be based on private insurance or run by the government. Currently, 48% of U.S. adults prefer a private system, while 46% support a government-run system.
“Together, these findings point to a complex health care policy environment, one in which Americans are looking for financial relief while being satisfied with their current coverage and are split along partisan lines over how much to rely on government-backed insurance solutions,” the survey report concluded.
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