More than 4 in 10 uninsured don’t know basic insurance terms
Even fewer understand complex coverage
Findings from a recent survey by Kaiser Family Foundation in Menlo Park, CA, suggest that some people who stand to benefit from the law struggle to understand how coverage works.
The survey found that more than four in 10 uninsured people could not correctly identify the definitions of essential health insurance terms, such as "premium," "deductible," and "provider network." Even more of the uninsured could not correctly answer questions that required calculating the amount an insured person would have to pay for a hospital stay (61%) or an out-of-network lab test (91%) based on the plan’s cost-sharing requirements.
The survey was designed and analyzed by researchers at the Kaiser Family Foundation and was conducted Oct. 17-27 among a nationally representative sample of 1,292 adults, including 194 uninsured adults ages 18-64. Interviews were conducted in English and Spanish using GfK’s KnowledgePanel, a probability-based online research panel. The margin of sampling error is plus or minus 3 percentage points for the full sample and plus or minus 8 percentage points for the uninsured. To access the survey results, go to http://bit.ly/1vFCzx0.
To inform and educate uninsured and insured consumers, the Foundation released a new five-minute cartoon video that explains insurance using fun, easy-to-understand scenarios. Health Insurance Explained The YouToons Have It Covered breaks down important insurance concepts. It explains how individuals pay for coverage and obtain medical care and prescription drugs when enrolled in various types of health insurance, including HMOs and PPOs.
Former U.S. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, a nationally recognized surgeon and Foundation trustee, narrates the video. The video is the third written and produced by the Foundation featuring the YouToons. The video can be accessed at http://bit.ly/1ubpmaP.
All coverage addressed
The Foundation developed the video and other tools to aid consumers as they make decisions about coverage, whether through the Affordable Care Act marketplaces, job-based coverage, Medicare, or Medicaid.
The new video can be linked to numerous social media networks and can be featured on other web sites using YouTube’s share button.
The previous two videos, Health Reform Hits Main Street, available at http://bit.ly/1ywEQHY, and The YouToons Get Ready for Obamacare, accessed at http://bit.ly/1yIDhuj, also are available. Additionally, consumers may test their own health insurance literacy by taking a quiz online and challenging others to do the same. The quiz can be accessed at http://bit.ly/1z0hBst. Quiz scores can be shared via Twitter and Facebook.
These resources can be found on kff.org’s Understanding Health Insurance web page (http://bit.ly/1w7Y3Bd), along with a compilation of nearly 300 frequently asked questions (http://bit.ly/1zjZeQh).
