Americans remain generally unsatisfied with their healthcare system, but they are happy with the coverage they receive from their employer-sponsored plans, according to the 2010 Health Confidence Survey (HCS) from the Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI).
Confidence in the current system hasn’t changed much since the healthcare reform bill was passed in March.
Since it’s fairly new, and implementation strategies haven’t fully taken effect, it’s too early to measure the true impact of the law, the study’s authors said.
The findings also reveal that fewer individuals are confident that employment-based health coverage will be available to them in the future.
“It is still too early to determine how the new health reform law is being received, but we do know Americans have been and continue to be unhappy with the nation’s healthcare system,” said Paul Fronstin, director of EBRI’s Health Research and Education Program.
“But people do see the law as detrimental to employment-based health coverage, which is where most Americans currently obtain their health insurance coverage.”
The 2010 HCS assessed the attitudes of 1,000 Americans regarding the healthcare system in the U.S.
It found that a majority of Americans rate the system as poor (27%) or fair (31%).
Americans’ ratings of their own health plans are generally favourable. Fifty-eight percent of those with health insurance coverage are extremely or very satisfied with their current plans, and 30% are somewhat satisfied.
But only 52% of individuals with employment-based coverage reported that they were extremely or very confident that their (or their spouses’) employers would continue to offer health insurance, down from 59% in 2009.