Americans continue to place a high level of trust in their personal health care providers, even as confidence in major federal public health agencies has declined sharply.
A nationally representative survey conducted by the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania found that 87% of US adults were confident that their doctor, nurse or other primary health care provider offered trustworthy public health information.
This was statistically unchanged from 88% in September 2024. The latest survey was conducted between 4 and 17 August 2026 and included 1,904 adults.
<h3>Trust in Personal Providers Remains High</h3>
Confidence in personal health care providers has remained remarkably stable over several years.
In August 2026, 46% of respondents said they were very confident in their provider, while 42% said they were somewhat confident. Only 8% reported having little or no confidence, while 4% said they did not have a regular health care provider.
Data from 2023 showed similarly high confidence levels, ranging from 87% to 90%. Earlier surveys conducted in 2021 and 2022, when respondents were specifically asked about trustworthy information on preventing and treating COVID-19, recorded slightly lower but still substantial confidence levels of between 82% and 87%.
<h3>Confidence in Federal Agencies Falls</h3>
The picture was markedly different for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Food and Drug Administration and the National Institutes of Health.
Confidence in these three agencies as reliable sources of public health information fell from approximately 72%–76% in 2024 to 59%–64% in 2026.
Overall confidence in the CDC declined from 72% in September 2024 to 61% in August 2026. The proportion of respondents who said they were very confident fell more sharply, from 29% to 13%. Confidence in the FDA dropped from 73% to 59%, while the share expressing very high confidence fell from 23% to 11%.
The NIH showed a similar pattern. Overall confidence declined from 74% to 61%, while the proportion of respondents who were very confident fell from 27% to 12%.
<h3>The Trust Gap Has Widened</h3>
The difference between confidence in personal health care providers and federal health agencies has grown considerably. In September 2024, the gap was around 14 to 16 percentage points. By August 2026, it had widened to between 26 and 28 percentage points.
Researchers noted that much of this decline in institutional confidence occurred during 2025 and had not recovered by the time the latest survey was conducted.
<h3>Why These Findings Matter</h3>
Trust can influence whether people follow medical recommendations, accept preventive measures or act on public health guidance.
The latest findings suggest that doctors, nurses and other primary health care professionals remain particularly important sources of credible information, especially at a time when confidence in national health institutions is weaker.
The survey was conducted by SSRS using web and telephone interviews with a nationally representative probability sample. The results were weighted to reflect the US adults population. The August 2026 survey had an estimated sampling margin of error of ±3.2 percentage points at the 95% confidence level.
The contrast is clear: while confidence in federal health agencies has fallen substantially, Americans’ trust in the professionals directly involved in their care has remained remarkably stable. That enduring relationship may make personal health care providers increasingly important in communicating reliable public health information.
