An the vast majority of US adults are satisfied with their health insurance overall, including a majority of older Americans and those on Medicare and Medicaid, according to a new NBC News Decision Desk poll. powered by SurveyMonkey.
But there's also an undercurrent of disappointment in the findings: Nearly a quarter of respondents said they had been denied coverage or experienced a delay in getting coverage in the past two years.
Overall, 82% of Americans said they were satisfied with their health insurance, including a third who said they were very satisfied with their current coverage. The group that reported being most satisfied were older adults, with 9 in 10 Americans over 65 saying they were satisfied. And 42% in this age group reported that they were “very satisfied.”
About 9 in 10 of those with government health insurance through Medicare or Medicaid also reported being satisfied with coverage, compared with 77% of those with private health insurance.
The findings, which are consistent with other studies, highlight the nuanced debates unfolding in Washington and across the country around health care and affordability. They also set a mark next year when significant changes and cuts to Medicaid and costs are likely to rise for millions of Americans. Insurance premiums for people who receive health care under the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, tuned to peak if Congress fails to reach an agreement to extend the subsidies.
Younger Americans were more likely to say they were dissatisfied with their health insurance than older Americans. Just under a quarter of people under 45 reported that they were dissatisfied with health insurance. A similar proportion of college graduates and political independents also reported dissatisfaction.
But the challenges of getting health care add another layer to the national conversation. NBC News reported in detail on the issue of insurance denials and delays, and the issue is at the center of the New York City-wide case against Luigi Mangione, who is accused of murdering the CEO of a health insurance company. About a quarter of Americans (24%) said their health insurance company has delayed or denied them medical services, treatment or medications in the past two years, according to the survey.
Women were six points more likely than men to report that their insurance was delayed or denied (27% to 21%).
Americans with private health insurance are slightly more likely (26%) than Americans with public health insurance (23%) to report being delayed or denied coverage in the past two years.
Regarding Obamacare, 46% said they would prefer to keep it, while 24% said they would prefer to repeal it. Another 31% did not know what to do.
Notably, those with private health insurance, such as a plan through their or their spouse's employer, were just as likely (47%) as those with public health insurance (46%) to say they want to keep the ACA.
A majority of Democrats (79%), a majority of black Americans (61%), women under 30 (59%) and all adults under 30 (52%) also want to keep it.
Majorities of Republicans (56%) and people who identify as members of Trump's Make America Great Again movement (69%) said they want to repeal the ACA. Four in 10 men aged 65 and over also said they wanted the law repealed.
As health insurance prices become a growing concern for Americans ahead of the 2026 midterm elections, 57% of respondents said they trust the Democratic Party to address the issue, compared with 43% who said they trust the Republican Party.
Women overall trust the Democratic Party more than the Republican Party to cover health care costs (64%-36%), while men are evenly split, 50%-50%.
The NBC News Decision Desk Poll, conducted by SurveyMonkey, polled 20,252 adults online from Nov. 20 to Dec. 8 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 1.9 percentage points. Percentages may not add up to 100 due to rounding.
