Americans less satisfied with almost every part of the health system

Change in share of U.S. adults who say healthcare players are providing excellent or good quality services.

Americans’ satisfaction with almost every major part of the health care system has dropped since 2010, according to a new Gallup analysis.

Driving the news: Drugmakers took the biggest reputational hit, and ratings for physicians fell sharply, too.

The big picture: COVID-19, ballooning costs, an opioid crisis and other factors could contribute to Americans’ souring sentiment, Gallup says.

• The findings also suggest that the goodwill Americans felt toward doctors at the start of the pandemic has all but disappeared.

Of note: Americans are happiest with the care they received from nurses, with 82% rating the care as excellent or good — down 6 percentage points from 2010.

• 69% said the same about physicians this year, down from 84% percent in 2010.
• Americans were least satisfied with nursing home care. Just 25% rated nursing homes as excellent or good, while 37% rated them as poor.

The intrigue: Views about the quality of health care had generally improved or stayed the same between 2003 and 2010, the last two times Gallup asked Americans to rate providers.