Is it the responsibility of the federal government to make sure all Americans have healthcare coverage? Gallup pollsters found that 62% of U.S. adults now say yes, the highest percentage in more than a decade. The number has been climbing fairly steadily since reaching a low of 42% in 2013, during the problem-plagued rollout of the Affordable Care Act exchanges. However, it remains below the 69% high reached in 2006.
Americans are split on whether a government-run healthcare system would be preferrable, with 46% favoring the idea compared with 49% who support a system that relies on private insurance. “Democrats and Republicans hold opposite views of the best approach to providing healthcare -- 71% of Democrats favor a government-run system and 20% a private system, while 76% of Republicans favor private insurance and 21% a government-run system,” Gallup says. “Forty-seven percent of independents want a government system, and 49% a private one.”
As we mentioned last week, the same Gallup survey found that just 44% of U.S. adults now call the quality of American healthcare “excellent” (11%) or “good” (33%), down 10 percentage points since 2020. “Between 2001 and 2020, majorities ranging from 52% to 62% rated U.S. healthcare quality positively; now, 54% say it is only fair (38%) or poor (16%),” Gallup reports. Just 28% say healthcare coverage is excellent or good — and just 19% say they are satisfied with its cost.
Americans are happier with Affordable Care Act, though, with 54% now approving of the Obama-era law, near the 55% high set in April 2017 and November 2020. Nearly all Democrats (94%) and most independents (53%) approve of the law, while only 19% of Republicans do so — though that 19% approval is the highest since 2012.
