Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Americans Like Their Current Coverage — But Won’t Be Able to Keep It…

Gallup is out this morning with a new survey finding that Americans’ satisfaction with their current health insurance is at a decade-long high.  Two in five Americans rate their health care coverage as “excellent” – the highest number since 2001 – with another 42% believing their health care is good.  Thus a total of 82% believe the health care they receive is excellent or good – including the vast majority of individuals at every income level surveyed.

Two other items of note: Individuals with private insurance have six points higher satisfaction than those in government-run health care (i.e., Medicare and Medicaid) – 88% of those with private insurance call their health care excellent or good, compared to only 82% with government-run coverage. (Unfortunately, the Gallup poll didn’t include a category just surveying individuals within Medicaid, which suffers from chronic access problems in most states, to see how waiting times affect patient satisfaction.)  And even a bare majority of the uninsured (52%) believe they receive excellent or good health care, though the number of individuals rating their care as excellent is rather low (14%).

The news from the Gallup survey may not come as a surprise to most Americans, but it once again illustrates the impact the unpopular health care law will have on the millions of Americans who like their current coverage, but won’t be able to keep it:

  • The majority of employer plans that won’t maintain their current coverage under the Administration’s grandfathering rules by 2013;
  • The more than 1 million seniors forced to change their Medicare Advantage or Part D prescription drug plan this year;
  • The 800,000 individuals losing their coverage because Principal Financial Group decided to drop health insurance offerings entirely – the first of many carriers that may do so.

These few examples, coupled with the high satisfaction rates most Americans have with their current health care, illustrate why the health care law remains so unpopular nearly eight months after its enactment.