Satisfaction With Health Coverage and Care : Findings from the 2014 EBRI/Greenwald & Associates Consumer Engagement in Health Care Survey

This paper examines satisfaction with various aspects of health care by type of health plan. It examines satisfaction among three groups of health-plan enrollees: those with a consumer-driven health plan (CDHP), those with a high-deductible health plan (HDHP), and those with traditional coverage. The findings presented in this paper are derived from the 2014 Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI)/Greenwald & Associates Consumer Engagement in Health Care Survey (CEHCS), an online survey that examines issues surrounding consumer-directed health care, including the cost of insurance, the cost of care, satisfaction with health care, satisfaction with health care plans, reasons for choosing a plan, and sources of health information. This paper also presents trends in satisfaction using findings from the 2005-2007 EBRI/Commonwealth Fund Consumerism in Health Care surveys, and the 2008-2013 CEHCS. The overall satisfaction rate among CDHP enrollees increased in most years of the EBRI/Greenwald & Associates Consumer Engagement in Health Care Survey, while it decreased in most years among enrollees in traditional health care plans. Differences in out-of-pocket costs may have explained some of the differences in overall satisfaction rates. In 2014, 48 percent of traditional-plan participants were extremely or very satisfied with out-of-pocket costs (for health care services other than prescription drugs), while 19 percent of HDHP enrollees and 26 percent of CDHP participants were extremely or very satisfied. Satisfaction with out-of-pocket health care costs has been trending upward among CDHP enrollees. CDHP and HDHP enrollees were found to be less likely than those in a traditional plan both to recommend their health plan to friends or co-workers and to stay with their current health plan if they had the opportunity to switch plans. The PDF for the above title, published in the July 2015 issue of EBRI Notes, also contains the fulltext of another July 2015 EBRI Notes article abstracted on SSRN: “IRA Withdrawals in 2013 and Longitudinal Results 2010-2013.”