Survey: Americans Unhappy With Health Insurance

An worldwide survey shows that the U.S. leads the industrialized world in out-of-pocket medical expenses and lack of access to medical care due to costs.

Americans were more likely than people living elsewhere to report having trouble paying medical bills and going without needed medical care because it was too costly.

Satisfaction with health care was not much higher for insured Americans than for those without insurance, according to the survey by the health care study and advocacy group Commonwealth Fund.

Dissatisfaction with insurance was top in the U.S. than anywhere else.

Almost a third of those surveyed in the U.S. said they spent a lot of time dealing with health insurance paperwork or that their insurance denied claims or paid less than anticipated for a doctor’s visit, hospital stay, or procedure.

The survey included close to 20,000 adults living in the U.S., U.K., Australia, Canada, France, Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, and Switzerland.

After the U.S., the countries with the next highest dissatisfaction with health insurance were Germany and France, with 23% of respondents reporting problems. The country with the least dissatisfaction was Sweden, with 4% of those surveyed finding mistake with their health insurance.