Despite promises of high-quality health care at affordable prices, a new Gallup poll finds that in the 14 years since the passage of the so-called “Affordable Care Act,” American’s once-improving views of U.S. healthcare have slumped to a quarter-century low.
“Americans’ positive rating of the quality of healthcare in the U.S. is now at its lowest point in Gallup’s trend dating back to 2001,” the polling firm reports.
“The current 44% of U.S. adults who say the quality of healthcare is excellent (11%) or good (33%) is down by a total of 10 percentage points since 2020 after steadily eroding each year. Between 2001 and 2020, majorities ranging from 52% to 62% rated U.S. healthcare quality positively; now, 54% say it is only fair (38%) or poor (16%),” Gallup finds.
“As has been the case throughout the 24-year trend, Americans rate healthcare coverage in the U.S. even more negatively than they rate quality. Just 28% say coverage is excellent or good, four points lower than the average since 2001 and well below the 41% high point in 2012,” Gallup notes.
The most common problem cited with US health was cost, with 23% of respondents citing it as their top concern.
“In addition to registering subpar ratings of the quality and coverage of healthcare in the U.S., few Americans — 19% — say they are satisfied with its cost. This reading is unchanged from last year and toward the low end for the measure, which has averaged 22% since 2001,” Gallup reports, adding, “The high point in satisfaction was 30% in 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic. This spike was largely due to an increase in satisfaction among Republicans.”
The findings come from Gallup’s annual Health and Healthcare poll. The latest update was conducted Nov. 6-20, 2024.
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