By Rashaan Ayesh
April 2, 2019
Americans’ expectations about our healthcare system are a cascade of pessimism, according to new survey data from West Health and Gallup.
By the numbers: 76% expect healthcare costs to increase over the next couple of years, and 77% said they’re concerned that rising health costs “will result in significant and lasting damage” to the U.S. economy. 69% said they’re “not at all confident” Washington will be able to do anything about it.
Between the lines: Given the hypothetical choice between a 10% increase in their income or a guarantee that their healthcare costs wouldn’t go up for 5 years, most people — 61% — said they’d take the freeze in healthcare costs.
Statistically, health costs are a bigger burden on lower-income families. But majorities in every income group — even people making more than $180,000 per year — said they’d rather have a freeze in healthcare costs than a 10% raise.