Satisfaction with Own Health Insurance Remarkably Stable 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 2333 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 Medicareprograms. 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 24 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 42 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 ofthe 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 DATASOURCE: Harris Interactive CONTACT: Nancy Wong of Harris Interactive, +1-585-214-7316, or Web site: http://www.harrisinteractive.com/ http://www.harrispollonline.com/ http://www.harrisinteractive.com/news/newsletters_healthcare.asp

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