Americans Rate Their Own Health Care Highly, But Income Matters

Published On: April 13th, 2011

In general, Americans think pretty highly of their own health care, a new poll finds. But they’re far more pessimistic about the system as a whole. And their personal feelings are tied to their income.

The 1,034 person poll, commissioned by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and conducted by the Harvard School of Public Health, asked respondents to grade their own health-care experience on an A to F scale.

When asked about the quality of health care they directly receive, 65% said it earns either an A or a B. Only 13% rated it a D or F. But when asked to grade the quality of health care in the country as a whole, only 33% answered A or B, with 28% answering D or F.

(This reminds us of polls that find people hate Congress as a whole but think their own representatives are just ducky.)

People’s opinions about the system reflect stories they’ve read or heard from others, Robert Blendon, the Harvard researcher who led the poll, tells the Health Blog. “This paints a picture where there is concern about improving the quality of care in the country, but it’s not an immediate threat to most people,” he says.

However, some 45% of people earning less than $50,000 rate their own care as a C, D or F, compared to 21% for those earning more than that. (There’s a more detailed breakdown of responses by income in the poll results.)

Blendon says it’s striking that “actual experience” with the system differs by income. “That is politically and socially significant,” he says.

Image: iStockphoto

Read the original post:
Americans Rate Their Own Health Care Highly, But Income Matters

STOP PANIC ATTACKS - A Natural Technique To Stop Panic Attacks and Anxiety Fast!

The technique I teach has been developed by me Joe Barry, a former sufferer of all too frequent panic attacks and GAD. I developed a completely natural approach to eliminating 100% of general anxiety and panic attacks. This may seem very hard to believe for someone who may have had this condition for some time but believe me the new information is now available to be free from anxiety. I will reveal the whole technique to you.

Did you know:

Although African Americans represent only 12.7 percent of the U.S. population, they account for 26 percent of all asthma deaths

standforright : RT @VernBuchanan: RT if you think Congress should not get paid until it passes a budget! #NoBudgetNoPayAct #tcot

2012-05-22T01:09:05Z - Reply - View Tweet
TrustNegovan : 1 arrest, Congress & Michigan, not yet clear why, watching police search male suspect now. Protesters marching again. @WGNNews #AfterNATO

2012-05-22T01:08:56Z - Reply - View Tweet
LFSecurity : Cloud Security Alliance announces EMEA congress: http://t.co/7sRkcf0k

2012-05-22T01:08:55Z - Reply - View Tweet
VisualRiskIQ : RT @IaMag_IIA: Lawmakers frustrated in Wal-Mart corruption probe http://t.co/yT31eWGJ via @reuters

2012-05-22T01:08:53Z - Reply - View Tweet
xandirboy : Republican Women; A Force In Congress - Republican Women In Congress - Fox Nation http://t.co/yvDiWIXY

2012-05-22T01:08:50Z - Reply - View Tweet
donibmorenews1 : News FLASH Jeremy Stinson is Running for Congress - Jeremy Stinson is an experienced small businessman and financial... http://t.co/bZWMSKDZ

2012-05-22T01:08:36Z - Reply - View Tweet
jasonmdallen : HUFFPOST HILL - Candidate Vows To Get High In Congress, Elevate Political ... http://t.co/b8IrU5Xq

2012-05-22T01:08:35Z - Reply - View Tweet

Health Care Trust May Own 17.5% of General Motors
Here’s a new way of underscoring the burden of health-care costs for U.S. employers: A health-care trust may actually own a significant part of General Motors. Under the deal struck by GM and the United Auto Workers, 17.5% of the company’s shares will be owned by a union health-care trust, with an option for up..
Health Insurers Pay a Bit Faster But They’re Still Not in a Rush
When the Health Blog has to go to the doctor, we fork over our $20 co-pay on the spot and usually any invoice that comes after within 30 days. Turns out that’s faster than it takes nearly two-third of major health plans, with their billions of dollars in reserves, to do just that. For the..
Sanofi CEO Still Shopping, But Big Merger Is ‘Highly Unlikely’
Sanofi-Aventis has spent some $9 billion on acquisitions this year, but there’s “more shopping on the horizon,” CEO Chris Viehbacher tells Bloomberg News . Among other things, Viehbacher is interested in deals that would expand Sanofi’s vaccine business — a popular trend among big pharma companies (including Merck, Abbott and J&J ) these days. The..
CBO Runs Through the Health Numbers, One More Time
The Congressional Budget Office has finished its preliminary run-through of cost numbers for the latest — and perhaps final — version of the Democratic health plan before it comes to an expected vote as early as Sunday. Democrats liked what they saw and President Obama again delayed an Asia trip to make one final push..
Cigna’s Results Suggest Americans Are Using Less Health Care
It is unclear whether consumers are curbing runaway medical spending or forgoing visits that are important to long-term health. ..
More Americans Skipped Needed Health Care in 2010, Study Shows
iStockphoto More adults went without needed medical treatment, a dental visit or routine check-ups in 2010 than a decade earlier, according to a new study . In 2010, some 21% of adults under the age of 65 told a government survey that they had an unmet health-care need, 20% said they hadn’t been able to..

Orshe