Americans support government health care... as long as they don't have to pay
An eHealth survey finds some agreement—and continued disagreement—on issues around health coverage, vaccine policies.
A strong majority of Americans support an expanded role for federal government in health care—with some caveats.
The eHealth “Health Insurance Trends” report is a biannual survey on health care issues among different groups in the U.S. The report found that 83% of Medicare beneficiaries said they approved of the federal government taking action to lower the cost of prescription drugs by negotiating with pharmaceutical companies. The latest survey included political preferences, and on the question of government action on drug costs, found rare agreement among Medicare respondents of different political backgrounds, with strong majorities of Democrats (93%), Republicans (73%), and Independents (84%) expressing support.
Among general public respondents, the idea of the government negotiating lower drug costs was supported by 74% of respondents, with 12% not supporting the idea, and 14% saying they were unsure.
In addition, 92% of Medicare beneficiaries supported the idea of adding dental, vision, and hearing benefits to traditional Medicare coverage, but only 50% supported those expansions if it would raise their costs. Democratic respondents showed more support for adding those benefits regardless of cost (58%); Republican and Independent respondents were less supportive (both at 49%).
COVID-19 vaccines have support, but not all agree
The survey found support for vaccination efforts when it comes to COVID-19. Survey respondents from the general public supported vaccine mandates for private-sector workers—with 53% supporting the idea and 35% saying they did not support it (12% were unsure). This issue showed partisan division, with strong support of mandates from Democrats (84%) and weak support from Republicans (24%). Mandates were supported by 41% of Independents.
Vaccine booster shots had strong support: 64% of respondents from the general public said they would get a booster shot if it were recommended. For Medicare beneficiaries, 73% said they would get a booster; of those already vaccinated that figure was 84%.
At a time when misinformation about the safety and efficacy of COVID-19 continues to influence the discussion, distrust of vaccines among the general public remains relevant. Of those not vaccinated, the No. #1 reason listed was that respondents had questions on the safety of vaccines or because of side effects (54%). The second-most frequent response was the perception that since vaccinated people were still getting COVID, the respondents didn’t see the point of being vaccinated (43%). Republican and Independent respondents were more likely to cite efficacy as a concern than Democrats (50% and 48% vs. 22%, respectively).
Health care costs, surprise medical bills are a concern
Among the general public, those with health insurance say out-of-pocket costs are their biggest concern, with 42% listing it as their top concern—that number is up from 33% in a May 2021 eHealth survey. Medicare beneficiaries also listed out-of-pocket costs as their top concern, at 39%.
The survey found that half of Americans have had a surprise medical bill in the past year (50%), with women more likely than men to report such bills (54% to 45%). There seemed to be a racial disparity in this area, with 60% of Hispanic American respondents saying they’ve had a surprise bill in the past year, followed by 56% of Black respondents, 52% of Asian, and 46% of white respondents.
Among those on Medicare plans, only 31% of respondents say they’ve had a surprise bill in the past year.
Insurers say they are not likely to raise rates
In a survey of health insurers, eHealth found that although a slight majority of plans say they are paying out more for member medical care because of the pandemic, the vast majority—88%s—say they do not plan to raise premiums because of it.
At the same time, the pandemic has had an effect on benefits: all insurance companies report an increase in utilization of telehealth services, with 43% saying the utilization had increased in the range of 100% to 500%. In addition, 84% of plans said they had seen an increase of between 10% and 25% in utilization of mental health benefits.
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