Key Takeaways
- Nearly half of Californians lack trust in the health care system — especially those facing cost barriers.
- Californians trust nurses and doctors, not insurers and pharmaceutical companies.
- Clear communication and respectful treatment build trust.
Executive Summary
In February 2026, NORC at the University of Chicago fielded a 12-question poll among a representative sample of Californians to assess attitudes about trust in the health care system. The poll was funded by CHCF.
What We Learned:
Nearly half of Californians lack trust in the health care system.
When asked how much they trust the health care system, 54% of Californians say ‘a great deal’ or ‘a fair amount,’ while 46% say ‘not much’ or “none at all.” Compared to the health care system, a larger share of Californians say they trust small business, public schools, and the police — and a smaller share say they trust California state government, the news media, large corporations, and the federal government. (Question 1)
Californians trust providers. They distrust the business side of health care.
Nine in ten Californians (90%) trust nurses, and more than eight in ten (84%) trust their personal doctor. But trust drops sharply on the business and administrative side of health care: fewer than half trust hospital administrators (49%), and roughly a third trust health insurance companies (33%) and pharmaceutical companies (30%). (Question 2)
Californians who face cost barriers or do not have a regular doctor are less likely to trust the health care system.
While 54% of Californians overall say they have at least ‘a fair amount’ of trust in the health care system, that number falls to 35% among people who have skipped care because of cost and 41% among those who lack a primary care provider. (Question 1)
What builds trust? Clear communication and respectful treatment.
We asked Californians what shapes their trust in the health care system. Eight in ten said that getting information that is easy to understand (80%) and feeling seen, heard, and respected (79%) meaningfully impacts their trust. About seven in ten said the same about knowing costs up front (73%), ease of navigation (72%), and wait times (72%). (Question 4)
Health misinformation is viewed as a major threat. AI may make it worse.
Nearly three-quarters of Californians (73%) say the spread of health misinformation is a major problem. Looking ahead, more than twice as many Californians believe artificial intelligence will increase the spread of false health information as believe it will help reduce it (42% compared to 20%). Only one in three (33%) trust AI tools to provide reliable health information. (Questions 5, 6, and 7)
Source: 2026 CHCF Trust in Health Care Survey. Sample includes 1,038 California residents age 18 and older.
Poll Questions
Methodology
This survey was conducted by NORC at the University of Chicago on behalf of the California Health Care Foundation. The survey was funded by the California Health Care Foundation.
Data were collected using AmeriSpeak®, NORC’s probability-based panel designed to be representative of the U.S. household population. During the initial recruitment phase of the panel, randomly selected U.S. households were sampled with a known, non-zero probability of selection from the NORC National Sample Frame and then contacted by U.S. mail, email, telephone, and field interviewers (face-to-face). The panel provides sample coverage of approximately 97 percent of the U.S. household population. Those excluded from the sample include people with P.O. Box only addresses, some addresses not listed in the USPS Delivery Sequence File, and some newly constructed dwellings.
Interviews for this survey were conducted February 4 through February 19, 2026, with adults aged 18 and over representing the state of California. Panel members were randomly drawn from AmeriSpeak, and 1,038 completed the survey—1,011 via the web and 27 via telephone. Panel members were invited by email or by phone from an NORC telephone interviewer. Interviews were conducted in both English and Spanish, depending on the respondent’s preference. Respondents were offered a small monetary incentive for completing the survey. The weighted household panel recruitment rate is 24.9 percent, and the survey completion rate is 41.6 percent, for a weighted cumulative response rate of 10.4 percent.
