Most Americans hold unfavorable view of US healthcare system in new survey

A majority of Americans say they have an unfavorable view of the U.S. healthcare system, in a YouGov poll published Tuesday.

Fifty-three percent of Americans hold a “very or somewhat” unfavorable view of the system, while 40 percent hold a “very or somewhat” favorable view.

Favorable views of the system are more common with men (42 percent) than with women (39 percent); with Black Americans (49 percent) than with white Americans (38 percent); with straight people (43 percent) than with LGBTQ+ people (25 percent); and with adults 65 and over (59 percent) than with adults under 30 (28 percent).

Some Americans say they have personally been treated negatively by a doctor because of personal attributes, including their weight (11 percent), insurance or lack of insurance (6 percent), physical appearance, (6 percent), mental health (6 percent), age (5 percent), gender (5 percent), race or ethnicity (4 percent) or others.

Nearly a third of Americans (32 percent) say they have avoided seeking out medical care because of past negative experiences with a doctor – including 23 percent of women and 40 percent of women.

Americans think patients receive worse care for personal attributes at a higher rate than Americans report actually receiving worse care.

Fifty-six percent of Americans say they think patients “very or somewhat often” receive worse care because of their insurance plan, while only 28 percent of Americans think this happens “never or not very open.”

Twenty-seven percent say they think doctors treat patients worse because of their gender, and 19 percent say doctors treat patients worse because of their religion.

The poll was conducted on June 21-24, 2024, and included 1,200 U.S. adults. The margin of error is approximately +/- 4 percentage points.