Public Attitudes on the U.S. Health Care System : Findings from the Health Confidence Survey

This paper presents the findings from the 2004 Health Confidence Survey (HCS), which focuses on Americans' satisfaction with the health care system today and their confidence in the system's future. It examines Americans' attitudes about employment-based health benefits, health savings accounts (HSAs), and benefits in the work place. The paper also looks at long-term trends in satisfaction and confidence with the health care system since the first HCS was conducted in 1998. While more Americans are dissatisfied with the current health care system than in the past, many are not eager to switch to a system that assigns them more responsibility for their health care. Despite the fact that more than half agree that more direct involvement in health care decisions would improve health care, a majority of Americans do not currently seek to take up this responsibility, though Americans who do not currently have a high-deductible plan express some interest in this type of plan