70% Say Health Care Is Failing, Congress Must Act Now

Americans are fed up with a health care system that a new national poll says is deeply broken, with three in five viewing it as crisis or major problem while Congress stalls on solutions and a key Obamacare subsidy reset looms at year end.

Seventy percent of respondents in the Gallup-style survey said the nation’s health care setup is in crisis or has major problems, a clear sign of nationwide frustration. Nearly a quarter described the system as a state of crisis, and almost half called it plagued by major problems, making the gap between public expectation and reality impossible to ignore.

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Cost is what keeps people up at night: 29 percent of voters put health care cost at the top of their list of urgent health problems, one of the highest readings in decades. That worry is not abstract — many families are already feeling premiums, copays, and deductibles bite into paychecks and savings.

The partisan picture is ugly for both parties. Eighty-one percent of Democrats and 64 percent of Republicans said the system is in crisis or has major problems, with concern rising notably for both groups this year. Those numbers show this is not a red-state-only complaint; voters across the map want concrete fixes, not political theater.

If Washington fails to act before enhanced ACA subsidies expire, experts warn average premiums could spike dramatically, potentially pricing many Americans out of the market. The House is set to vote this week on a Republican plan called the Lower Health Care Premiums for All Americans Act, which aims to lower costs through market-driven changes but does not keep the current ACA subsidies in place.

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WASHINGTON, DC – DECEMBER 10: Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-LA) discusses affordability at a press conference on December 10, 2025 at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, DC. The Republican leaders discussed healthcare plans with a vote regarding an extension of the ACA subsidies looming.

Speaker Mike Johnson framed the GOP approach bluntly: “House Republicans are tackling the real drivers of health care costs to provide affordable care, increase access and choice, and restore integrity to our nation’s health care system for all Americans.” He and his colleagues are pitching alternatives they say will lower premiums and expand options without locking in temporary fixes.

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Democrats have pushed back with a proposal to extend enhanced ACA tax credits for three years, arguing the stopgap is necessary to prevent chaos in the insurance markets. That plan, however, faces procedural hurdles and uncertainty about whether it can get the signatures needed to reach the House floor for a vote.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries publicly criticized the Republican alternative, calling it insufficient and vowing to vote against the GOP bill. The public back-and-forth highlights how polarized the debate is, even as families on Main Street demand workable policy rather than partisan wins.

The poll also showed a record-low 16 percent satisfaction rate with the overall cost of U.S. health care, while 57 percent said they were satisfied with their own plan’s cost. Those numbers suggest people see a large systemic problem, even if some feel their personal coverage is acceptable for now.

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The survey polled roughly 1,300 adults between November 3 and November 25, with a margin of error of plus or minus three percentage points. With voters clearly worried and time running out before subsidy changes hit, lawmakers face a choice: deliver real, lasting reforms that lower costs and expand options, or hand families a worse bill come January.