2011 Health Confidence Survey : Most Americans Unfamiliar With Key Aspect of Health Reform

This paper presents findings from the 2011 Health Confidence Survey (HCS), the 14th wave of an annual survey that examines a broad spectrum of health care issues, including Americans’ satisfaction with health care today, their confidence in the future of the health care system and the Medicare program, and their attitudes toward health care reform. Findings from the 2011 HCS demonstrate that, despite the passage of health reform a year ago, most Americans are unfamiliar with health insurance exchanges, a key aspect of the health reform law (the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010, or PPACA). Under PPACA, each state is to set up an “exchange” (or marketplace) by 2014, where people not covered through their employer’s health benefits would shop for health insurance at competitive rates (the federal government will step in if a state does not set one up). Other key findings from the 2011 HCS: A majority of respondents rate the health care system as poor (27 percent) or fair (29 percent); More than one-half of respondents report being extremely or very confident that they are able to get the treatments they need; Sixty percent of those with health insurance coverage are extremely or very satisfied with their current plan, and 29 percent are somewhat satisfied; Satisfaction with health care quality continues to remain fairly high, with 56 percent of Americans saying they are extremely or very satisfied with the quality of the medical care they have received in the past two years; In 2011, 57 percent of individuals with employment-based coverage reported that they were extremely or very confident that their (or their spouse’s) employer or union would continue to offer health insurance, up from 52 percent in 2010; Many Americans see themselves as good consumers of the health care system and have tried to find objective information about various aspects of health care; When it comes to raising the Medicare eligibility age for full benefits to 68 while at the same time lowering the age for partial benefits to 62, most Americans are against it. The PDF for the above title, published in the September 2011 issue of EBRI Notes, also contains the full text of another September 2011 EBRI Notes article abstracted on SSRN: “Is There a Future for Retirement?”