National Consumer Education Initiative Developed in Response to Findings of
New Survey
WASHINGTON, Sept. 27 /PRNewswire/ -- Humana Inc. (NYSE: HUM), in
partnership with advocacy group Consumer Action, unveiled today the Family
Health Budget -- a novel online resource for all Americans, designed to help
families throughout the nation successfully plan for and manage their health
care expenses.
Developed in response to a survey of U.S. adults commissioned by Humana
and conducted by Harris Interactive(R), which revealed that two out of three
Americans say they need and want help budgeting for health care, the Family
Health Budget is part of a broad-based consumer education initiative developed
by Humana and Consumer Action.
At the heart of the Family Health Budget is a robust but easy-to-use
personal finance planning tool. The tool, called the Family Health Budget
Planner, and its complementary Family Health Budget website, are designed to
educate consumers nationwide on the true cost of health care for themselves
and their families, guide them toward saving for future health care expenses
and enable them to make better health care decisions in an environment of
ever-rising costs.
During a news conference today at the National Press Club, Michael B.
McCallister, president and chief executive officer of Humana, appeared with
Ken McEldowney, executive director of Consumer Action, and Katherine Binns,
president of the Healthcare and Public Policy Research Practice at Harris
Interactive, to discuss the survey results, education initiative and the
Family Health Budget.
"When Americans budget, they usually do so only for the basics -- food,
housing and utilities," McCallister explained. "Our goal through the Family
Health Budget is to give people a place to start, to help them understand that
they need to budget for health care expenses just like they would for any
other necessity, and to enable them do it confidently and successfully."
"For many, annual financial planning is daunting, so much so that they
just don't budget at all. But many don't realize that budgeting is worth the
effort, and that health care expenses should also be taken into consideration,
as they can be a significant drain on a family's finances if not properly
accounted for," McEldowney said. "Faced with increasing medical plan premiums
and medical costs in general, consumers are unsure of where to turn for help.
Our partnership and its broad education program will provide consumers the
tools they need to help them understand their health care options and more
successfully plan and budget for their family's health care needs."
The Family Health Budget Planner assists consumers in determining how much
they spend annually on health care and how much they should be saving for
future expenses. The tool helps consumers address the financial challenges
associated with health care costs and guides them through the entire health
benefits experience, including choosing the best benefits options for
themselves and their families.
What the Survey Revealed
"In conducting this survey, we weren't surprised to see that a majority of
adults have seen their health care expenses increase over the past three
years," Binns said. "What we were surprised to find was how many people feel
unprepared to address these increases. More than three-fourths of all adults
are worried that they won't be able to afford future health insurance
expenses. This indicates a need for consumer education to help people plan and
budget for their out-of-pocket health care costs."
Some of the study's key findings include:
- 44 percent of U.S. adults are not very or not at all confident they can
predict health care expenses for the coming year
- 66 percent agree that they would like help in understanding health care
expenses and planning for them
- 95 percent agree that consumers need to be savvier today about their
health insurance choices
- 51 percent of those who budget specifically for health care believe
that budgeting has improved their ability to get the health care they
and their family need
- 42 percent of those polled who are insured said they would be
interested in online self-assessment tools to help them plan for health
care expenses and choose the right health care coverage; 50 percent are
interested in paper workbooks with guidelines
- 30 percent have avoided or delayed a doctor-recommended treatment due
to cost
- 24 percent have gone into debt because they were unable to pay their
portion of medical bill/expenses
- 78 percent agree that they worry that health expenses are increasing to
the point that they are no longer financially sustainable
The Need for the Family Health Budget
"Rising health care costs continue to be an issue for most consumers,"
McCallister continued. "With nearly one third of adults saying their family's
health care expenses increased considerably over the past three years, you can
see the immediate need for assistance among the general public. As the
industry leader in health benefits consumerism, we are dedicated to guiding
consumers through these difficult times."
According to the survey, the vast majorities of consumers admit they need
to be savvier about their health insurance options (95 percent) and also
believe this education is their responsibility (92 percent).
"There is a paradigm shift occurring in health benefits, in which
employees are taking on greater responsibility for choosing benefits and the
costs associated with their selections," McCallister said. "But first, they
need to understand the differences between benefits plans -- from popular
Health Savings Accounts to more traditional HMO and PPO plans -- so they can
choose the most appropriate coverage based on their needs.
"Humana and Consumer Action are focused on helping consumers take more
control of their health care needs, which is why we designed the overall
educational campaign, of which the Family Health Budget is a part. We wanted
to provide in-depth information on general plan types to help consumers
discern which plans meet their both their health and budgetary needs, thereby
helping them make better health care decisions overall."
The survey revealed that only 20 percent of adults knew exactly how much
they spent on health care expenses last year, while one third said they're not
sure or have no idea how much they spent.
How the Family Health Budget Planner Helps
Accessible by anyone at http://www.familyhealthbudget.com, the Family Health
Budget Planner guides consumers on just how much is spent on annual health
related products, services and activities. The Planner takes consumers through
the process step-by-step, asking for information such as current insurance
information, how many times the family goes to the doctor, how often
prescription medicines are purchased and how often the family visits the
dentist, eye doctor or other specialists. It also takes into account costs
like vitamins, supplements, health club memberships and weight loss programs.
The Planner then takes all that information and calculates how much the
user should set aside for the entire year, thereby enabling them to better
plan for annual expenses. The Family Health Budget website includes additional
resources to help consumers understand their health benefits options and use
them most effectively, including comparisons of plan types, a glossary and
links to related web sites.
About the Humana/Consumer Action Partnership
Through their partnership, Humana and Consumer Action will develop a range
of health care, multilingual educational materials, which will be distributed
though Consumer Action's national network of 7,500 community-based
organizations, as well as through the organization's Web site. In addition,
meetings will be held throughout the country, during which community group
staff will be trained on how best to use the materials to assist their clients
with their health care questions.
Survey Methodology
Harris Interactive conducted the telephone survey in the U.S. on behalf of
Humana among a nationwide cross section of 2,000 adults (between 18 and 64
years of age). Figures for age, sex, race/ethnicity, education, income,
region and number of adults in the household were weighted, where necessary,
to align with population proportions. Results for the total sample have a
sampling error of +/- 3 percentage points at the 95 percent confidence level.
Sampling error for the various sub-sample results is higher and varies. The
survey was conducted between Dec. 14, 2004, and Jan. 11, 2005. A complete copy
of the report is available upon request.
About Consumer Action
Consumer Action (http://www.consumer-action.org) is a non-profit, membership-
based organization that was founded in San Francisco in 1971. Since then,
Consumer Action has continued to serve consumers nationwide by advancing
consumer rights, referring consumers to complaint-handling agencies through
our free hotline, publishing educational materials in Chinese, English,
Korean, Spanish, Vietnamese and other languages, advocating for consumers in
the media and before lawmakers, and comparing prices on credit cards, bank
accounts, and long distance services.
About Harris Interactive(R)
Harris Interactive Inc. (http://www.harrisinteractive.com) is the 13th largest
and fastest-growing market research firm in the world, perhaps best known for
The Harris Poll(R) and for pioneering and engineering Internet-based research
methods. The Rochester, New York-based global research company blends premier
strategic consulting with innovative and efficient methods of investigation,
analysis and application, conducting proprietary and public research globally
to help clients achieve clear, material and enduring results.
Blending science and art, Harris Interactive combines its intellectual
capital and one of the world's largest online panels of respondents, with
premier Internet survey technology and sophisticated research methods to
market leadership through its US, Europe and Asia offices, its wholly owned
subsidiary, Novatris in Paris, and through an independent global network of
affiliate market research companies.
About Humana
Humana Inc., headquartered in Louisville, Ky., is one of the nation's
largest publicly traded health benefits companies, with approximately 7
million medical members. Humana offers a diversified portfolio of health
insurance products and related services -- through traditional and consumer-
choice plans -- to employer groups, government-sponsored plans, and
individuals.
Over its 44-year history, Humana has consistently seized opportunities to
meet changing customer needs. Today, the company is a leader in consumer
engagement, providing guidance that leads to lower costs and a better health
plan experience throughout its diversified customer portfolio.
More information regarding Humana is available to investors via the
Investor Relations page of the company's web site at http://www.humana.com,
including copies of:
- Annual report to stockholders
- Securities and Exchange Commission filings
- Most recent investor conference presentation
- Quarterly earnings news releases
- Replay of most recent earnings release conference call
- Calendar of events (includes upcoming earnings conference call dates,
times, and access number, as well as planned interaction with
institutional investors)
- Corporate Governance Information
SOURCE Humana Inc.
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Related links:
http://www.humana.com
http://www.familyhealthbudget.com
http://www.consumer-action.org
http://www.harrisinteractive.com
Photo Notes:http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20030425/HUMANALOGO
AP Archive: http://photoarchive.ap.org
PRN Photo Desk, photodesk@prnewswire.com
Company News On-Call:
http://www.prnewswire.com/comp/423125.html
CONTACT:
Tom Noland of Humana Inc., +1-502-580-3674,
or tnoland@humana.com
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