Americans satisfied with health care, despite cost

Americans satisfied with health care, despite cost

Most Americans seem satisfied with health care quality and tend to leave price out of the equation when considering quality, new data from the Employee Benefit Research Institute shows.

Americans often view cost as one of the least important factors when judging health care quality, EBRI's survey indicates. At least 90% of Americans cite skill, experience, training, willingness to listen and communication skills of their doctors as very important in evaluating health care quality. Meanwhile, 63% agree that information on the cost of alternative providers is very important.

Roughly 57% of Americans are extremely or very satisfied with the quality of the medical care they received in the last two years, while just 28% are satisfied with the cost of health coverage. EBRI President Dallas Salisbury comments, “Satisfaction with health care quality is high, but few are happy about the cost of health care."

Cost does influence behavior, according to EBRI, which polled 1,003 adults. Among insured Americans who experienced an increase in medical expenses during the last year, 79% switched to generic drugs, 71% started taking better care of themselves, and 21% skipped prescribed medications. Furthermore, 40% of all respondents delayed seeing a doctor because of costs.