Americans’ Frustration With The Health Care Industry Builds
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RESULTS FROM A 2019 survey revealed that 43% of Americans were unsatisfied with health care.1 Results from a similar survey conducted in 2024 produced higher numbers, showing that more than half of patients either felt “severe” frustration or were “burned out” by frustration due to their experiences with health care.2
It seems that health care frustration is severe enough to inspire the kind of violence that US prosecutors have labeled as a terrorist attack.3 Social media has decided the shooting of UnitedHealthcare's CEO Brian Thompson had everything to do with America’s frustration with the health care industry.
We should consider what types of conditions have led to that level of frustration:
• Results from a 2023 Harris Poll survey found that more than 70% of Americans feel health care fails to meet their needs and identified affordability as the most significant barrier to health care access.4
• The second frustration on the list also had a financial theme: US health care is “too focused on profit.” These frustrations on rising costs are not misplaced.
Findings from a recent study on out-of-pocket health care expenses placed the average amount in 1970 at $677, after being adjusted for inflation.5 By 2022, it has risen to $1425—a 110% increase.
High drug prices are a primary part of the problem. Investment in drug development alone results in high costs, and patients must also shoulder fees added by pharmacy benefit managers.
The fragmented nature of the system is another issue. The administrative complexity it breeds leads to excessive costs in billing, reimbursement, and revenue cycle management, and are typically passed on to patients. The industry’s common fee-for-service models are an main issue contributing to the high cost of health care. Patients often undergo unnecessary examinations and procedures, driving up costs without necessarily providing better care outcomes.
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Lindsay Dymowski Constantino is the president and cofounder of Centennial Pharmacy Services, a leading medication-at-home pharmacy and of LTC@Home Pharmacy Companies.
