Consumer reports survey shows health plans get lukewarm response

A recent survey shows health insurance plans get "lukewarm" responses while other articles examine how to choose a good plan. The Washington Post reports: "Consumers aren't that enthralled with their current insurance to begin with. In a recent Consumer Reports survey, only 64 percent of readers said they were very or completely satisfied with their plan. That's a lukewarm response and a slight drop from the 67 percent who responded the same way in CR's 2007 report."

The findings by the Consumer Reports National Research Center "were based on responses from 37,481 subscribers who reported on their experiences over the course of a year. The numbers do not represent the experience of the population as a whole, but they do provide a good benchmark for two kinds of managed-care plans: health maintenance organizations (HMOs) and preferred provider organizations (PPOs)." Based on survey results, 84 percent of respondents "have an employer-based plan that they could keep under most proposals now before Congress. Reform or not, the survey suggests that some people might welcome a change" (10/13).

The Washington Post includes another piece that offers answers to questions about insurance options this year (Hilzenrath, 10/13). Meanwhile, an additional Washington Post piece explores how to choose the best plan based on different criteria (10/13).

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This article was reprinted from khn.org with permission from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. Kaiser Health News, an editorially independent news service, is a program of the Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonpartisan health care policy research organization unaffiliated with Kaiser Permanente.