ACA/Obamacare: Health Insurance Is Not Health-care

‘Low- and middle-income consumers who use the marketplaces often are able to qualify for tax subsidies to offset the cost of monthly premiums and help them afford care. But while the Department of Health and Human Services has touted low premiums averaging $100 a month for the majority of Americans who use exchanges, that message only tells part of the story, leaving out details about copays, deductibles and provider costs that may be out of reach.

"There is a lot of evidence to suggest consumers are learning as they go, and I'm sure it's not without a lot of painful experiences," says Paul Lambdin, insurance exchanges and retail practice leader for health plans at Deloitte Consulting. The Deloitte Center for Health Solutions, a research arm of Deloitte, has been polling consumer attitudes about health insurance and the health care system since 2008.

For this report, researchers surveyed 3,887 people, 406 of whom used online marketplaces to buy health insurance. The analysis did not distinguish between people who used state exchanges and those who used the federal website, HealthCare.gov.

Despite having insurance coverage that some may not have had before, the survey revealed costs are still a major concern for exchange customers. Results showed only 24 percent felt they could get affordable care when they needed it, and just 16 percent felt financially prepared to handle future health care costs. And 1 in 3 reported they had difficulty paying for out-of-pocket expenses when enrolled in a marketplace plan for a full year.’ - Obamacare Exchange Customers: Health Care Still Costs Too Much, US News and World Report, 08/03/2015

Link to the entire article appears below:

http://www.usnews.com/news/blogs/data-mine/2015/08/03/obamacare-exchange-customers-health-care-still-costs-too-much