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Damning Poll Finds Record Number of Americans Say Healthcare Is in Crisis Under Trump

Gallup’s new numbers landed on the Obamacare deadline day.

U.S. President Donald Trump, accompanied by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (L), takes a question

Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

By Tom Latchem

Nearly one-quarter of Americans say the healthcare system is in crisis under Donald Trump in a damning new poll released as millions brace themselves for higher premiums.

A new healthcare survey released Monday found 23 percent of U.S. adults describing the nation’s healthcare system as being “in a state of crisis,” while another 47 percent said it has “major problems.”

Gallup said the latest results extend a long-running trend dating back to 1994, when pluralities—and often majorities—have consistently judged the U.S. health care system to have “major problems.” But the share calling it a full-blown “crisis” has now reached a record 23 percent, topping prior highs in 2009 and 2013 by two points. Compared with last year, Gallup found the “crisis” view up seven points.

The number of people calling it a full-blown “crisis” has reached a record 23 percent, topping prior highs in 2009 and 2013.

Gallup

Gallup also found 29 percent of people cited high costs as the country’s most urgent health problem—one of the highest readings the firm has logged in years of tracking.

Cost and access have typically topped the list of health problems in the U.S. since 2000, although they were displaced during the pandemic in 2020 and 2021, as people were mainly concerned about COVID-19. But as that focus lessened, concerns about cost and access returned.

Cost and access have typically topped the list of health problems in the U.S. since 2000.

Gallup

The survey was released on the day that people must apply for Obamacare coverage that begins on New Year’s Day.

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The gloom cuts across party lines, according to the Gallup survey. The data show that 81 percent of Democrats and 64 percent of Republicans say the system is either in crisis or has major problems.

Americans also fear affordability—something Trump has unsuccessfully tried to paint as a “Democrat hoax.” Only 16 percent said they are satisfied with the total cost of U.S. healthcare, even though 57 percent said they’re content with what they personally pay.

Americans' satisfaction with their own healthcare costs has been steady since 2022 at 57%. This was elevated during the pandemic, but Galluo says the current level is similar to the rate seen for most of the previous two decades leading up to 2020.

Americans' satisfaction with their own healthcare costs has been steady since 2022.

Gallup

A real-time political countdown is heightening anxiety. Congress is heading toward the expiration of enhanced Affordable Care Act—Obamacare—premium tax credits at year’s end. Monday was the deadline to enroll for Obamacare coverage that starts Jan. 1.

Independent health policy research company KFF estimates that if the enhanced credits expire, subsidized enrollees’ annual premium payments would jump 114 percent on average—from $888 in 2025 to $1,904 in 2026.

U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. delivers remarks alongside President Donald Trump

U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. delivers remarks alongside President Donald Trump.

Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

On Capitol Hill, House Speaker Mike Johnson, 53, has said Republicans will move their own healthcare package while not extending the ACA subsidies, the Washington Post reported. The Senate has already blocked competing Democratic and Republican approaches in the last week, according to multiple reports.

WASHINGTON, DC - MAY 14: U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. testifies before the House Appropriations Committee in the Rayburn House Office Building on May 14, 2025 in Washington, DC. Kennedy is testifying before the Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies on the Department of Health and Human Services' proposed 2026 fiscal year budget. (Photo by Samuel Corum/Getty Images)
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With the Affordable Care Act on the books since 2010, Gallup’s Lydia Saad said the issue isn’t coverage availability so much as affordability. “It’s not that they don’t have the plans... They can’t afford the plans,” she told The Washington Post. KFF’s Liz told the Post, “Healthcare is a pocketbook issue for people.”

The Daily Beast has contacted the White House and the Department of Health and Human Services for comment.

The survey was conducted Nov. 3-25.

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Tom Latchem
Tom LatchemLead Global Correspondent

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