Monday, July 18, 2011

Healthcare System Ratings: U.S., Great Britain, Canada

Healthcare System Ratings: U.S., Great Britain, Canada

The views of Americans on the quality of medical care in their country are not overly different -- 48% of Americans, 52% of Canadians, and 42% of Britons say they are satisfied. However, Americans are slightly more likely than Canadians or Britons to rate this issue at one extreme or the other. The proportion of respondents who are very (as opposed to somewhat) satisfied with the quality of healthcare in the United States is 17%, while the proportion who are very dissatisfied is 26% -- so 43% of Americans fall at the extremes of this scale. In the other two countries, the middle ground of "somewhat" satisfied or dissatisfied respondents tends to be larger. In Canada, 13% are very satisfied, while 22% are very dissatisfied -- so 35% of the public is at the extremes. In Great Britain, 11% are very satisfied, while 23% are very dissatisfied -- a total of 34% is at the extremes.