Americans who've tried to use the exchange enrollment sites think that, in the long run, what they'll really need help with is figuring out coverage options.
LIMRA found that about half of the participants who'd tried the exchange sites felt they needed off-Web help.
Despite all of the news about problems with HealthCare.gov as well as the state exchange sites, only 23 percent of the early users who wanted off-Web help said they needed assistance with filling out forms.
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Just a few more – 27 percent – wanted help with using the websites themselves.
More than half of the consumers said they wanted help with analyzing the coverage options.
Fifty-nine percent said they need advice on finding the most cost-effective plan, and 56 percent said they need more information about the health insurance options.
Fifty-four percent were looking for program eligibility information, and 52 percent said they need help with understanding how the exchange plans will work.
LIMRA analyst, and survey author, Yuliya Babushkinaurvey said Web glitches might have swayed the results by discouraging many consumers from even trying the exchange.
About one-quarter of the uninsured consumers LIMRA surveyed said they didn't plan to try to shop for exchange coverage at all, mainly because they expect the exchange plans to be too expensive.
LIMRA analyst Yuliya Babushkina looked at exchange users' views in a summary of results from an online survey of 2,204 U.S. consumers ages 18 to 75. LIMRA conducted the survey in October, just after open enrollment began.
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Allison Bell
Allison Bell, a senior reporter at ThinkAdvisor and BenefitsPRO, previously was an associate editor at National Underwriter Life & Health. She has a bachelor's degree in economics from Washington University in St. Louis and a master's degree in journalism from the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University. She can be reached through X at @Think_Allison.
