Health Coverage as Human Right

 GALLUP: More in U.S. See Health Coverage as Government Responsibility

Approval of Affordable Care Act also near high point

by Jeffrey M. Jones

-Sixty-two percent of U.S. adults, the highest percentage in more than a decade, say it is the federal government’s responsibility to ensure all Americans have healthcare coverage. The figure had slipped to as low as 42% in 2013 during the troubled rollout of the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA's) healthcare exchanges. It has been as high as 69% in 2006.

The results are based on Gallup’s annual Health and Healthcare survey, conducted Nov. 6-20. The same poll finds fewer Americans than in the recent past rating U.S. healthcare coverage and quality positively.

Large majorities of Democrats have consistently believed the government should make sure all Americans have health coverage. The 90% of Democrats who now say the government should ensure health coverage for all is the highest Gallup has measured for the group to date. The high points for Republicans and independents were registered in the 2000s: In 2001 and 2004, 44% of Republicans said the government was responsible, while 71% of independents, in 2006 and 2007, expressed that opinion.

Apart from asking whether the government should ensure people have healthcare coverage, Gallup measures public support for a government-run U.S. healthcare system, such as those in Canada, the United Kingdom and elsewhere around the world.

Americans divide about evenly on this question, with 46% saying the U.S. should have a government-run healthcare system, while 49% are in favor of a system based mostly on private health insurance. Only in a 2017 survey were Americans as closely divided as they are today. In most years, majorities -- as high as 61% -- favored a system based on private insurance.

Fifty-four percent of U.S. adults approve of the ACA, essentially tying the record-high 55% readings in April 2017 (during Republican-led attempts to repeal the law) and November 2020 (after Joe Biden won election as president). Approval has generally been 50% or above since Obama left office in 2017, but the law was far less popular during his tenure, ranging from 37% to 48% approval.

Ninety-four percent of Democrats and 19% of Republicans approve of the law, both highs for those groups. Fifty-three percent of independents approve.