Benefits February 15, 2001

Americans Of Two Minds About Healthcare

February 15, 2001 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - Despite a sharp increase in public hostility toward the health insurance and managed care industries, most Americans seem to be relatively happy with their own plans, according to a new Harris Interactive poll.
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More than two-thirds (69%) gave their plans an “A” or “B”, while only 8% rated a “D” and a mere 2% “flunked.”  Those findings were relatively consistent with the 69% that ranked their plans favorably in 1999 and the 72% in 1998.

On the Other Hand

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However, looking past their own experiences, poll respondents took a dimmer view of the industry overall.  Just 39% thought that the trend toward managed care would help contain costs, down from 48% in 1998 and 59% in 1995.  There also appeared to be suspicions about the impact on quality of health care, with 59% indicating that the trend toward managed care would likely harm quality.  Over half (52%) viewed the trend toward managed health care as a “bad” thing.

Friend-ly

More than three-fourths (78%) would recommend their plans to healthy friends, while a slightly lower 68% would recommend the plan to friends with a serious or chronic illness.  Both numbers were consistent with readings from the past two years.

Furthermore, while the overall numbers are relatively consistent, the Harris survey noted a modest increase in satisfaction with employer-provided health insurance.

You can check out the report at: http://www.harrisinteractive.com/about/healthnews/HI_HealthCareNews2001Vol1_iss6.pdf .

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