Most People in the United States Continue to Give Their Own Insurance Good
Marks, Whether Employer-Provided, Individually Purchased, Medicare or Medicaid
ROCHESTER, N.Y., March 29 /PRNewswire/ -- People who follow or who are
closely involved with the health insurance industry are aware of many changes.
Employers are introducing new types of plans. Employees are being asked to
pick up more of their own costs. The Medicare Reform bill has passed but has
not been implemented. Consultants preach the virtues of so-called consumer-
driven health plans. States make changes in their Medicaid plans. However, if
consumer attitudes to health insurance were to be viewed as evidence, you
would be forgiven for thinking that nothing much is changing.
For the fifth time in six years, Harris Interactive has asked the insured
public to rate their own insurance plans. Two thirds of them continue to give
their plans an A or a B, with only 10% giving them a D or an F. Substantial
but not overwhelming majorities continue to say that they would recommend
their own health plans to family members who are basically healthy (76%) or
who have a serious or chronic illness (68%).
Of course, these results could be much better with many more As and fewer
Cs, Ds and Fs, and fewer people saying they would not recommend their own
plans. But the big picture is that most people rate their health insurance
positively and only a third or less, depending on the question, give their
health insurance negative marks.
A paradox
This remarkable stability of public satisfaction, with most people being
satisfied with their own insurance, stands in stark contrast to the very
negative views many people have of the health insurance industry and managed
care (see The Harris Poll(R) #31, May 28, 2003), which have increased greatly
over the same six years.
This reinforces the view which we have expressed before that the greatly
increased hostility to managed care and the health insurance industry was
mainly driven by the media, and by physician-patient conversations, rather
than by personal experience.
SUMMARY A
Those Unhappy with Employer-Provided Plans: Key Trends (1999-2004)
Base: Adults Insured by Employers or Unions
1999 2000 2001 2002 2004
% % % % %
Adults who gave their employer-provided
health plans a grade of C, D, or F 29 26 31 31 31
Adults who would not recommend their
employer-provided health plans to
friends who are healthy 20 15 22 19 17
Adults who would not recommend their
employer-provided health plans to
friends who have serious
chronic illnesses 28 25 26 26 24
SUMMARY B
Those Unhappy with Different Types of Plans (2001-2004)
Base: Insured Adults
Covered by:
Employer-Provided Medicare Medicaid Privately
Plans Bought
2001 2002 2004 2001 2002 2004 2001 2002 2004 2002 2004
% % % % % % % % % % %
Give their health
plans a low
rating
(C, D, or F) 31 31 31 24 26 29 31 36 36 31 30
Would not recommend
their plans to
friends who are
healthy 22 19 17 18 19 23 31 21 27 17 15
Would not recommend
their plans to
friends who have
serious or chronic
illnesses 26 26 24 21 20 22 24 23 33 25 22
Modest changes since 2001
In general, satisfaction levels have been remarkably stable. The main
points to note are:
* The very modest changes relating to employer-provided insurance
suggest a possible increase in satisfaction with those saying they
would not recommend their plans marginally lower now than in 2001 or
2002.
* This year's survey produced slightly higher levels of dissatisfaction
with Medicare: those giving the programs a C, D or F rose from 26% to
29%, and those who would not recommend Medicare also increased
modestly.
* Dissatisfaction with Medicaid has increased to some extent with more
people now saying they would not recommend it to friends or family
members who have serious or chronic illnesses (33%).
Satisfaction with Medicaid is lower than for other plans
There are now only modest differences in the levels of dissatisfaction
with employer-provided, privately purchased insurance and Medicare programs.
However, Medicaid beneficiaries are more likely to be dissatisfied, with 36%
of them rating Medicaid D, E or F, 27% not recommending Medicaid to healthy
friends and family and 33% not recommending it to those who have serious or
chronic illnesses.
TABLE 1-A
RATING OF OWN HEALTH PLAN: 1998-2004
"I want to know how you rate your current/most recent health plan, thinking
about all of your experiences with that plan, would you give it a grade of A,
B, C, D, OR F?"
Base: Insured Adults
1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2004
% % % % % %
A 33 30 34 29 31 28
B 39 39 35 38 35 39
C 18 22 19 23 20 18
D 5 5 6 4 8 8
F 3 2 2 4 4 2
Don't know/Refused 2 2 4 2 2 4
TABLE 1-B
RATINGS OF THOSE WITH DIFFERENT TYPES OF PLANS (NOW)
"I want to know how you rate your current/most recent health plan, thinking
about all of your experiences with that plan, would you give it a grade of A,
B, C, D, OR F?"
Base: Insured Adults
Employer-Provided Medicare Medicaid Privately
Bought
% % % %
A 25 36 22 26
B 42 31 40 40
C 19 15 18 19
D 10 11 16 9
F 2 4 2 2
Not sure/Refused 2 5 3 3
TABLE 1-C
RATINGS OF OWN HEALTH PLAN: TRENDS 1999-2004 EMPLOYER-PROVIDED PLANS
"I want to know how you rate your current/most recent health plan, thinking
about all of your experiences with that plan, would you give it a grade of A,
B, C, D, OR F?"
Base: Adults Insured by Employers or Unions
Currently Insured Through Work, Union
1999 2000 2001 2002 2004
% % % % %
A 26 34 26 29 25
B 43 36 41 39 42
C 22 18 23 18 19
D 6 6 4 9 10
F 1 2 4 4 2
Not sure/Refused 2 5 2 1 2
TABLE 2-A
RECOMMENDING HEALTH PLAN TO A HEALTHY RELATIVE OR FRIEND: 1998-2004
"Would you definitely, probably, probably not or definitely not recommend your
health care plan to a family member or friend who is basically healthy?"
Base: Insured Adults
1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2004
% % % % % %
Definitely recommend 39 31 41 34 40 41
Probably recommend 40 44 37 39 36 35
Probably not recommend 12 13 11 16 10 11
Definitely not recommend 7 8 6 7 8 7
Not sure/Refused 3 5 4 4 5 6
TABLE 2-B
RECOMMENDING HEALTH PLAN TO A HEALTHY FRIEND:
1998-2004 EMPLOYER-PROVIDED PLANS
"Would you definitely, probably, probably not or definitely not recommend your
health care plan to a family member or friend who is basically healthy?"
Base: Adults Insured by Employers or Unions
Currently Insured Through Work, Union
1999 2000 2001 2002 2004
% % % % %
Definitely recommend 26 42 33 40 40
Probably recommend 53 40 42 37 39
Probably not
recommend 12 9 17 11 11
Definitely not
recommend 8 6 6 7 6
Not sure/Refused 2 3 3 4 4
TABLE 3-A
RECOMMENDING HEALTH PLAN TO A SICK RELATIVE OR FRIEND: 1998-2004
"Would you definitely, probably, probably not or definitely not recommend your
health care plan to a family member or friend who has a serious or chronic
illness?"
Base: Insured Adults
1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2004
% % % % % %
Definitely recommend 34 28 38 34 38 37
Probably recommend 34 38 30 33 29 31
Probably not recommend 16 13 13 14 15 14
Definitely not recommend 13 14 12 11 11 10
Not sure/Refused 3 7 6 6 7 8
TABLE 3-B
RECOMMENDING HEALTH PLAN TO A SICK RELATIVE OR FRIEND:
1999-2004 EMPLOYER-PROVIDED PLANS
"Would you definitely, probably, probably not or definitely not recommend your
health care plan to a family member or friend who has a serious or chronic
illness?"
Base: Adults Insured by Employers or Unions
Currently Insured Through Work, Union
1999 2000 2001 2002 2004
% % % % %
Definitely recommend 24 36 32 38 36
Probably recommend 44 33 35 30 34
Probably not
recommend 14 13 15 15 14
Definitely not
recommend 14 12 11 11 9
Not sure/Refused 4 6 6 6 6
Downloadable PDFs of the Harris Interactive Health Care News are available at
http://www.harrisinteractive.com/news/newsletters_healthcare.asp
Methodology
This Harris Interactive survey was conducted by telephone within the
United States between February 9 and 16, 2004, among a sample of 911 insured
adults, aged 18 and over. Figures for age, sex, race, education, number of
adults and number of voice/telephone lines in the household were weighted
where necessary to align them with their actual proportions in the population.
In theory, with probability samples of this size, one could say with 95
percent certainty that the results have a statistical precision of plus or
minus three percentage points of what they would be if the entire adult
population who are insured had been polled with complete accuracy.
Unfortunately, there are several other possible sources of error in all polls
or surveys that are probably more serious than theoretical calculations of
sampling error. They include refusals to be interviewed (non-response),
question wording and question order, interviewer bias, weighting by
demographic control data and screening (e.g., for likely voters). It is
impossible to quantify the errors that may result from these factors.
These statements conform to the principles of disclosure of the National
Council on Public Polls.
About Harris Interactive(R)
Harris Interactive (http://www.harrisinteractive.com) is a worldwide market
research and consulting firm best known for The Harris Poll(R), and for
pioneering the Internet method to conduct scientifically accurate market
research. Headquartered in Rochester, New York, Harris Interactive combines
proprietary methodologies and technology with expertise in predictive, custom
and strategic research. The Company conducts international research from its
U.S. offices and through wholly owned subsidiaries-London-based HI Europe
(http://www.hieurope.com), Paris-based Novatris and Tokyo-based Harris Interactive
Japan-as well as through the Harris Interactive Global Network of independent
market- and opinion-research firms. EOE M/F/D/V
To become a member of the Harris Poll Online(SM) and be invited to
participate in future online surveys, visit http://www.harrispollonline.com.
Press Contact:
Nancy Wong 585-214-7316
nwong@harrisinteractive.com
SOURCE Harris Interactive
 back to top
Related links:
http://www.harrisinteractive.com
http://www.harrispollonline.com
http://www.harrisinteractive.com/news/newsletters_healthcare.asp
CONTACT:
Nancy Wong of Harris Interactive,
+1-585-214-7316, or nwong@harrisinteractive.com
|
