The trend: US consumers are losing faith in most components of the healthcare system, including federal health agencies and their leaders, drugmakers, insurers, and hospitals.

Editor’s note: This article pulls information from our just-published “Consumer Distrust in Healthcare 2025” report.

3 takeaways from the report:

1. Consumers are critical of the healthcare system, and most don’t trust its top decision-makers

• Far more people view the medical system unfavorably (54%) than favorably (36%), according to a December 2024 Economist/YouGov survey. Perceptions have significantly worsened since 2022, when more people had a positive outlook (48%) than a negative one (40%), per YouGov.
• Only 31% of consumers trust the nation’s top healthcare leader, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., to provide reliable health information, and only 29% trust Trump, per a June 2025 Axios/Ipsos poll.