Poll: Americans anxious about health care system

February 28, 1998
Web posted at: 8:07 p.m. EST (0107 GMT)

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A U.S. News & World Report survey released Saturday indicates Americans are seriously concerned about how they'll take care of themselves as they grow older.

Two-thirds of Americans polled said they have had some problem with their health care systems. Three-fourths of the respondents reported they're concerned about facing health care problems in the future.

In the magazine's March 2 issue, one in six respondents said they had experienced delays in getting appointments, 25 percent said they can't figure out their medical bills and 20 percent said they had problems paying those bills.

Sixty-eight percent of the respondents said they've had a negative experience with the health care system, while 36 percent said the quality of health care had become worse and 38 percent said it had stayed the same.

Seventy percent of the respondents said they are concerned that their benefits could be reduced in the near future, 66 percent said they are concerned that the overall quality of health care could worsen, and 58 percent felt they might be denied a needed medical procedure.

Sixty-eight percent of the respondents said they are concerned that health care could become too expensive to afford, while 58 percent said that the health care system had worsened in terms of holding down family health care costs.

Twenty-six percent of the respondents said they have problems getting enough time with their doctors when they go for care, while 19 percent said they have problems getting information and communicating with their doctors.

The poll of 3,009 adults was conducted for U.S. News & World Report and the Kaiser Family Foundation (not associated with Kaiser Permanente HMOs) by the University of Chicago National Opinion Research Center from May 31 to July 19.

Related stories:

• More doctors join unions to fight HMOs - December 25, 1997
• The HMO backlash - November 5, 1997
• 3 HMOs move toward patient bill of rights - September 24, 1997

Related sites:

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• The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation
  • For-Profit Health Care Companies: Trends and Issues

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