This week’s Economist/YouGov poll covers the health-care system, the presidential transition, the economy, President Biden's pardon of his son Hunter, and cryptocurrency.
Health care
- Two-thirds (66%) of Americans with health insurance say they are very or somewhat satisfied with it; 14% say they are dissatisfied while 20% say they do not have health insurance or are not sure
- The highest satisfaction levels are among Americans with health insurance coverage from Medicare (86%) or Medicaid (89%)
- One in four Americans (25%) say they or an immediate family member have ever had a health insurance claim denied
- 60% of Americans who have had an insurance claim in their family denied say they are satisfied with their current coverage, compared to 75% of the people who have not had this happen
- Although two-thirds of Americans are satisfied with their own health insurance, a majority (54%) have a very or somewhat unfavorable opinion of the American health care system overall, including 58% of Democrats and 49% of Republicans
- Only 36% of Americans have a favorable view of the American health care system
- Views on the health care system have grown more negative in recent years: In 2022, fewer viewed it unfavorably than favorably (40% vs. 48%)
- About one-quarter (23%) of Americans think the health care system should be completely rebuilt, while another 45% see the need for fundamental change; 22% say the system works pretty well and requires only minor changes
- Two-thirds (66%) place a lot of blame for problems with the health care system on pharmaceutical companies, while 62% blame health insurance companies and the same share blame corporate executives
- Fewer than one in five blame doctors a lot and a similar share blame Medicare (16% and 19%)
- 39% place a lot of blame on Republican politicians and 35% place a lot of blame on Democratic politicians
- 29% put a lot of blame on the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, including 9% of Democrats and 52% of Republicans
The presidential transition
- Americans are more likely to approve than disapprove of how both Donald Trump (51% strongly or somewhat approve vs. 33% who disapprove) and Joe Biden (48% vs. 33%) are handling the presidential transition
- Republicans are about twice as likely to approve of Biden’s handling of the transition as Democrats are to approve of Trump’s handling of the transition (30% vs. 13%)
- There is close division among Americans when it comes to Trump's appointments to his Cabinet: 45% approve and 40% disapprove
- In December 2020, views of Biden's appointments were similar: 42% approved and 36% disapproved
- Mario Rubio’s nomination for Secretary of State fares best among Trump nominees in the poll: 45% of Americans approve of his nomination while 31% disapprove
- After a brief declaration of martial law in South Korea, one-third (33%) of Americans — including 55% of Democrats and 18% of Republicans — say it is very or somewhat likely that Trump would impose martial law in the U.S.
The economy
- Many Republicans' perspectives on their family’s economic future have changed since Trump’s election victory: Just before the election, 27% of Republicans said they believed their family’s finances would be better in a year; now 60% do
- Democrats, on the other hand, have grown more downbeat about the economy: 23% say their family’s finances will be better in a year, down from 42% just before the election
- Americans are as likely to say gas prices will be higher than lower six months from now — more positive sentiments than just before the election
- Here, too, Democrats' economic outlook has become more negative: Majorities now say both gas prices and inflation will be higher in six months, in each case more than double the shares saying so just before the election
Hunter Biden
- Americans don’t like President Joe Biden’s pardon of his son Hunter: 48% believe it was the wrong thing to do while only 28% say it was the right thing — including 58% of Democrats and 7% of Republicans
- 36% approve of Biden’s job handling, matching the lowest level in his presidency
- In 1976, two years after President Gerald Ford pardoned former President Richard Nixon, 55% of Americans said the pardon was wrong, while 35% said it was the right thing, according to an ABC News poll
- By 2002, opinions had changed: 59% of Americans called the pardon the right thing to do, while 32% called it the wrong thing, according to an ABC News poll
Cryptocurrency
- About one-quarter of Americans say they have owned cryptocurrency — including 13% who say they own crypto now
- 76% who now own crypto say they understand cryptocurrency very or somewhat well
- Overall, two-thirds (67%) of Americans understand it not very well or not well at all
- 42% of Americans support more cryptocurrency regulation and only 10% support less — the rest either want to maintain the current level of regulation or are unsure
Throughout this report, some numbers may appear to be off by 1 because of rounding
— Carl Bialik and Taylor Orth contributed to this article
See the toplines and crosstabs for the December 8 - 10, 2024 Economist/YouGov Poll
Methodology: The poll was conducted among 1,593 U.S. adult citizens. Respondents were selected from YouGov’s opt-in panel to be representative of U.S. adult citizens. A random sample (stratified by gender, age, race, education, geographic region, and voter registration) was selected from the 2019 American Community Survey. The sample was weighted according to gender, age, race, education, 2024 presidential vote, 2020 election turnout and presidential vote, baseline party identification, and current voter registration status. 2024 presidential vote, at time of weighting, was estimated to be 48% Harris and 50% Trump. Demographic weighting targets come from the 2019 American Community Survey. Baseline party identification is the respondent’s most recent answer given around November 8, 2024, and is weighted to the estimated distribution at that time (31% Democratic, 32% Republican). The margin of error for the overall sample is approximately 3.5%
Image: Getty (Stephen Maturen / Stringer)
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