WASHINGTON, April 12 (UPI) -- Most adults grade U.S. healthcare -- the most expensive in the world -- average at best, but richer Americans give it a higher grade, a survey indicates.
The survey, commissioned by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, was designed and analyzed by researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health, led by Robert J. Blendon. It indicates 55 percent gave U.S. healthcare a grade of C or D, while 11 percent gave it an F.
However, only 21 percent with household incomes of $50,000 or more rate the quality of the healthcare they receive with grades of C, D or F, while 43 percent with household incomes of less than $50,000 gave a C, D or F to the quality of healthcare they receive.
Forty-seven percent of Americans give the quality of hospital care in the country a rating of C, D or F.
"American healthcare faces a crisis in quality. There is a dangerous divide between the potential for the high level of quality care that our health system promises and the uneven quality that it actually delivers," Dr. Risa Lavizzo-Mourey, president of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, says in a statement. "Clearly, consumers are aware of it. There are too many errors, too much misuse of medical treatments and, too often, poorly coordinated care among a patient's different health care providers."
Telephone interviews of 1,034 U.S. adults were conducted by SSRS, an independent research company, March 9-18. The margin of error is 3.7 percentage points.
The findings were presented at the American Hospital Association's annual membership meeting in Washington.
