Poll: Americans Rate Own Care High, But Are Less Satisfied With Health System As A Whole

Dr. Georges Benjamin, executive director of the American Public Health Association, says the system's built-in processes -- filling out forms, dealing with co-pays, running from one specialist to the next -- are what people find difficult, even if they rate the quality of care they are receiving as high. In the same series of polls, NPR and its partners look at how states are faring two years after the health law went into effect.

The United States has the most advanced health care in the world. There are gleaming medical centers across the country where doctors cure cancers, transplant organs and bring people back from near death. But a poll conducted by NPR, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, shows that only one-third of Americans say the health care they receive is "excellent." Even fewer people are impressed with the system as a whole. (Kodjak, 2/29)

A series of polls in key states by NPR and its partners finds that more than half of adults in the U.S. believe the Affordable Care Act has either helped the people of their state or has had no effect. Those sentiments are common despite all the political wrangling that continues over the law. About a third (35 percent) of adults say the law has directly helped the people of their state, while a quarter (27 percent) say it has directly hurt people. (Neel, 2/29)

This is part of the Morning Briefing, a summary of health policy coverage from major news organizations. Sign up for an email subscription.

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