Costs, insurance delays and difficult-to-obtain mental health treatment plague the US health system

A record 23% of Americans believe the United States healthcare system is “in a state of crisis” and 47% think it has “major problems,” according to a recent poll from the West Health-Gallup Center on Healthcare in America.

The poll also revealed that a record 29% of Americans see “cost” as the most urgent health problem facing the US. Experts note that these two perceptions – that the healthcare system is in a state of crisis and that costs are an urgent health problem – are related.

The US healthcare system has long been criticized by those within the medical community and those outside it. Some of the sector’s biggest issues include how US health insurance giants often cause deadly delays to vital medical procedures and care, the rapidly rising cost of drug prices and the dubiousness of those overseeing US health in the current administration. The latter issue most notably centers on the US health secretary, Robert F Kennedy Jr, who has been repeatedly lambasted for spreading misinformation and called upon to resign.