If part of the goal of health care reform was to empower consumers to make better health insurance decisions, the reform movement may be failing a large portion of U.S. consumers.
After interviewing more than 500 health plan members who ostensibly have some input into plan selection, health care consulting firm Copatient reports 55 percent say they either had little control over their plan selection, or that the power resided with their employer, not them. And, of those, 37 percent say they had absolutely no control over their plan.
The study also found that 15 percent paid at least $5,000 in out-of-pocket expenses for health coverage last year, and 55 percent paid at least $1,000.
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Dan Cook
Dan Cook is a journalist and communications consultant based in Portland, OR. During his journalism career he has been a reporter and editor for a variety of media companies, including American Lawyer Media, BusinessWeek, Newhouse Newspapers, Knight-Ridder, Time Inc., and Reuters. He specializes in health care and insurance related coverage for BenefitsPRO.
