More than two-thirds of Americans think the U.S. healthcare system is "in a state of crisis" or has "major problems," according to a new poll.
A Gallup poll, released Monday, showed that 70 percent of respondents described the country's healthcare system as being "in a state of crisis" or having "major problems," while only 30 percent said it has minor or no problems. The results are consistent with last year's figures when 71 percent said the system was in crisis and 27 percent believed it has minor or no problems.
Between 1994, when Gallup first asked the question, and 2018, roughly 70 percent of respondents have said the U.S. healthcare system in "in a state of crisis" or "has major problems," apart from in 2001, when just 49 percent believed the system had major problems and another 49 percent said it had minor problems.
Over the past few years, Democratic respondents have consistently believed that their healthcare system carries major problems. 84 percent of those who identify as Democrats believed the system is "in a state of crisis" in the new poll, an increase from 76 percent in 2017 and 63 percent in 2016.
While under Trump, Republicans concerns have seemingly dissipated, with 56 percent of believing the healthcare system is "in a state of crisis," a significant drop from 71 percent in 2017 and 80 percent in 2016.
The 28 percent difference between the two parties marks the largest partisan gap on the issue since the Gallup poll was first conducted in 1994. Despite America's pessimistic diagnosis on the U.S. healthcare system, 55 percent rated the quality of healthcare positively. Thirty-four percent positively reviewed the U.S.' healthcare coverage, while just 20 percent positively reviewed the costs associated with healthcare across the country.
According to Gallup, cost and access were rated the greatest problems in the healthcare system.
The data was collected from Gallup's annual Healthcare poll, which surveyed 1,037 Americans between November 1 - 11 last year.
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
To read how Newsweek uses AI as a newsroom tool, Click here.
