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Nearly half of Americans say the United States is heading in the wrong direction on healthcare, with attitudes differing significantly by political affiliation, according to a recent poll from West Health and Gallup.
Nearly half of Americans say US healthcare is heading in the wrong direction
For the survey, West Health and Gallup gathered responses from 3,583 U.S. adults between Nov. 11 and Nov. 18, 2024.
When asked if they believed the United States is headed in the right or wrong direction due to President Donald Trump's policies to lower the cost of healthcare and prescription drugs, 46% of respondents said they believed the country was heading in the wrong direction on the cost of healthcare, and 41% said the country was heading in the wrong direction on the cost of prescription drugs.
The responses varied significantly by political affiliation, with nearly three-quarters of Republicans saying the United States is headed in the right direction on the cost of healthcare compared to over 80% of Democrats who said the country is headed in the wrong direction.
Similarly, just under 80% of Republicans said the country is headed in the right direction on the cost of prescription drugs compared to just over three-quarters of Democrats who said the country is headed in the wrong direction.
Overall, the percentage of U.S. adults who felt it was very or somewhat likely that access to affordable healthcare in the United States would improve in the next five years dropped from 41% before the 2024 Presidential election to 38% post-election. The percentage of Americans who said it's not very or not at all likely that access to affordable healthcare will improve in the next five years increased from 59% pre-election to 62% post-election. Again, responses varied significantly by political party, with just 10% of Democrats saying it's very or somewhat likely that access to affordable healthcare will improve in the next five years post-election compared to 74% of Republicans.
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When asked if they are optimistic or pessimistic that the Trump administration and Congress will enact policies to bring down the cost of healthcare and prescription drugs, just under half of Americans said they were pessimistic about either endeavor.
Responses once more varied significantly by political party, as 88% of Democrats said they were pessimistic the Trump administration and Congress will reduce the cost of healthcare compared to 5% of Republicans.
When asked if the Trump administration would prioritize a number of key healthcare issues during his second term in office, over half of respondents said they believed he would not on each issue raised in the poll.
(Fioroni, Gallup, 1/15)
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