Poll: 114M Americans Think Healthcare System Is Failing Them

The 2022 West Health-Gallup Healthcare in America Report asked more than 5,500 people to grade the healthcare system.

Nearly half the people in the United States (44%) give the nation's healthcare system a poor grade, with one-in-three Americans saying the sector deserves an "F" for affordability, according to a new poll commissioned by San Diego-based West Health.

"After years of higher prices, growing inequities, skipping treatments, getting sicker, or borrowing money to pay medical bills, it's no wonder so many Americans view the health system so poorly," West Health President Timothy A. Lash says in a media release. "This new report should send a strong message to policymakers that despite the healthcare provisions in the Inflation Reduction Act, most of which will not take effect for some time, there is still immediate work to be done to lower healthcare prices."

The 2022 West Health-Gallup Healthcare in America Report asked more than 5,500 people to grade for the healthcare system overall and to specifically grade for affordability, equity, accessibility and quality of care. Details of Gallup's panel methodology can be found here.

The healthcare system averaged a grade of C-minus. Women and Hispanic and Asian Americans were more negative, with about half of each group assigning it a grade of D or F compared to about 40% of males, and 43% of White and Black Americans.

Affordability earned the lowest grade, however, with three-quarters of Americans – about 190 million adults — saying it deserved no higher than a D (41%) or F (33%), for an average grade of D-minus. A top grade of A was virtually nonexistent (1%), only 6% went as high as a B, and 19% gave it a middling grade of C. The bad grades for affordability were consistent across gender, age, race, household income and political persuasion.

The poll also found that:

66% of Americans say they pay too much relative to the quality of care that they received, up six points compared to April 2021. 

Half the nation — about 129 million people — aren't sure they'll be able to afford healthcare as they age. 

Two in three adults under 65 think Medicare may not exist when they turn 65, and 3 in 4 adults 62 or younger say the same about Social Security.

17% cut back on healthcare services to pay for other household goods with women more likely to do so than men (about 50% more likely); and Black (23%) and Hispanic (24%) Americans 53% and 60% more likely than White adults (15%). 

Six in 10 Americans report that cost is important when considering a medical procedure or medication.

People 50 to 64 are nearly twice as likely to say cost is extremely important as those over 65 (29% vs. 16%) — rates that run even higher for Black (39%) and Hispanic adults (41%).