Even as the majority of Americans applaud the quality, cost and coverage of their healthcare, four in 10 adults — a conspicuous minority in the era of the Affordable Care Act — are dissatisfied with their healthcare costs. Americans who are covered by Medicare or Medicaid are the least dissatisfied (29%), while dissatisfaction is highest among the uninsured (62%) and averages 48% among those with private insurance.
Are you generally satisfied or dissatisfied with the total cost you pay for your healthcare?
Satisfied Dissatisfied No opinion % % % U.S. adults 56 42 3 Type of health insurance Medicaid/Medicare 69 29 2 Private insurance 52 48 <1 No insurance 31 62 7 Based on 2014-2016 Gallup Healthcare polls GALLUP
These figures are based on combined data from Gallup’s 2014, 2015 and 2016 Health and Healthcare polls, conducted each November. Across this period, coinciding with the implementation of the individual mandate component of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), an average 42% of U.S. adults report being dissatisfied with their healthcare costs. That is up from 38% on average from 2011-2013, although similar to satisfaction levels a decade ago.
Just over a third of Americans in Gallup’s 2014-2016 healthcare polling (37%) report being enrolled in a government healthcare plan such as Medicaid or Medicare; 52% get their healthcare through private insurance; and 11% have no insurance.
Among the three groups, dissatisfaction has increased the most in recent years for those with private insurance, rising to 49% in 2016 from an average 40% during 2011-2013, and more broadly from 31% in 2001.
Via Gallup