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Privately insured becoming more dissatisfied with health care costs
NEWS IN BRIEF — Posted Dec. 10, 2012
People with commercial health insurance are growing less satisfied with the money they pay out of pocket for medical services, while those on government programs are more satisfied, according to a data brief issued Nov. 29 by Gallup.
Researchers surveyed 1,015 adults with employer-sponsored or individual private health insurance from Nov. 15-18. The proportion with private insurance who are satisfied with out-of-pocket expenses declined from 68% in 2001 to 57% in the most recent survey. Satisfaction with the money spent among those on Medicare and Medicaid increased from 68% in 2001 to 76% in 2012.
Researchers believe these trends are a result of commercially insured people having to pay a larger share of premiums and other expenses. The survey also found that the proportion in a plan where the employer paid 100% of premiums declined from 19% in 2001 to 10% in 2012. The percentage sharing the expenses with an employer went up from 54% in 2001 to 64% in 2012.
Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2012/12/10/bibf1210.htm.
