Americans have increasingly negative opinions about the U.S. health care system, according to the results of a new poll.
The survey released on Wednesday by The Economist/YouGov found that a 54 percent majority of respondents had a “very” or “somewhat” unfavorable view of the American health care system. Only 36 percent said that they had a favorable view, with another 10 percent being undecided.
YouGov noted in a press release emailed to Newsweek on Wednesday that “views on the health care system have grown more negative in recent years,” pointing out that only 40 percent of Americans had an unfavorable view of the system in a 2022 poll, with 48 percent having a favorable view at the time.
Health insurance companies were blamed for problems with the system to some degree by an overwhelming 91 percent majority of respondents, with 62 percent saying that they blame the health insurance industry “a lot” and 29 percent saying that the industry is “a little” to blame.
The new survey also found that pharmaceutical companies were blamed for the problems by 91 percent of the respondents, including 66 percent who said drug companies were “a lot” to blame. A comparatively small amount of blame was placed on doctors and hospitals, although most respondents said that both were at least “a little” to blame.
Corporate executives were another group heavily blamed for problems with the health care system. A 90 percent majority of respondents pinned the blame on executives, with 62 percent saying they were “a lot” to blame. Only 10 percent of respondents said that the executives were “not at all” to blame.
Opinions on the Affordable Care Act, also known as “Obamacare,” were split in the poll. A 39 percent plurality said that the law was “not at all” to blame for systemic problems with health care, while 32 percent assigned it “a little blame” and 29 percent found it was “a lot” to blame.
A 42 percent plurality of respondents said that they supported an expansion of government-subsidized health insurance, while only 17 percent supported a reduction. Another 16 percent said that government-subsidized health insurance should remain as is, and 24 percent were undecided.
The poll was conducted among 1,593 U.S. citizens ages 18 and over using web-based interviews from December 8 to December 10. It has a 3.2 percent margin of error.
The release of the survey comes in the aftermath of last week’s deadly shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, which has recently been accompanied by a noticeable outpouring of online support for suspect Luigi Mangione.
The backing for Mangione, who authorities said referred to Thompson and other health care executives as “parasites” who “had it coming” in a handwritten manifesto, appears to be linked to strong dissatisfaction with the health insurance industry.
