With Obamacare Clearing the Supremes: Poll the Left Does Not Want You to See

Read Time:8 Minute, 42 Second

By US Daily Review Staff.

With the Supreme Court upholding (5-4) the Affordable Care Act (ACA), sometimes referred to as “Obamacare”, Americans have different opinions on components of the law, depending on the type of health insurance they currently have. Specifically, over half of U.S. adults who have purchased health insurance individually (54%) think employers should not be required to provide employee health insurance compared to only 28% of Americans with employer-sponsored insurance who think this. Additionally, over half of those with individual health insurance (55%) think the government should play a role in assuring access to health insurance, compared to almost two-thirds of Americans with employer-sponsored coverage (64%).

These are some of the results of The Harris Poll of 2,208 U.S. adults (ages 18 and over) surveyed online between June 12 and 14, 2012 by Harris Interactive.

Two thirds of Americans (66%) agree that having health insurance should be a personal choice, so there may be some general disapproval of the ACA’s individual mandate. However, Americans do agree with some of the ACA’s other provisions. For example, over four in five U.S. adults agree that neither children nor adults should be denied health insurance if they have a pre-existing condition (83%) and nearly three-quarters of Americans agree that tax credits should be offered to individuals if they purchase their own health insurance (74%).

However, when looking at the data by the type of insurance respondents currently have, some distinct differences can be seen. Interestingly, among those that have individual coverage, almost half (46%) agree that all people do not need to be covered by health insurance, compared to 30% among those with employer-sponsored coverage and 36% among those that have no insurance at all. Those with individual insurance are also slightly less likely to agree (79%) that adults and children with pre-existing coverage should not be denied coverage, compared to those with employer-sponsored plans (86% adults; 85% children) and Medicare (82% adults; 83% children).

How important 11 aspects of health insurance are

When asked to rate how important 11 different aspects of health insurance are, over nine in ten Americans say access to the doctors, hospitals and services they need is important (91%) while nine in ten say coverage for prescriptions (90%) and availability of insurance if they have a pre-existing condition (90%) are important. Those who have employer sponsored health insurance are more likely than those with insurance they have purchased themselves to say each of the 11 aspects is important when it comes to health insurance. Some of the larger differences are seen when looking at coverage for prescriptions (95% vs. 76%), coverage for preventative care (93% vs. 74%), and coverage for wellness programs (84% vs. 65%).

Additionally, when asked which two things are most important when it comes to health insurance, one aspect rises to the top – two in five Americans say one of the two most important aspects is access to the doctors, hospitals and services they need (39%). The next three are financial as about one-quarter of U.S. adults say financial protection from major health crises (27%), lower out of pocket costs (26%), and low premiums (24%) are most important.

So What?

“The importance of health insurance to the American consumer cannot be understated regardless of the opinion issued by the Supreme Court,” said Debra Richman, Senior Vice President of Healthcare Business Development & Strategy at Harris Interactive. “This is especially true for consumers who individually purchase health insurance plans, a market of growing significance to health insurers. It will be imperative for health insurers to increase their focus on how those in the individual market ‘consume’ health insurance, including what plan features they prefer, and what they will and conversely will not choose to buy. Financial protection from major health crises, access to providers, convenience, and quality will be key factors as individual health consumers make purchasing decisions, despite how the Supreme Court rules on the individual coverage mandate.”

TABLE 1
AMERICANS AND HEALTH INSURANCE
“How much do you agree or disagree with the following statements?”

Base: All adults

	AGREE(NET)	StronglyAgree	SomewhatAgree	DISAGREE(NET)	SomewhatDisagree	StronglyDisagree	Not at allsure
	%	%	%	%	%	%	%
Children with a pre-existing condition should not be denied coverage by a health insurance company	83	68	15	12	6	6	5
Adults with a pre-existing condition should not be denied coverage by a health insurance company	83	63	19	13	7	6	5
If an individual purchases his/her own health insurance, they should receive a tax credit	74	47	27	17	8	9	9
If employers are not required to provide health insurance, those that do offer it should receive a tax credit	73	40	32	19	11	8	9
If a person doesn’t want health insurance, it should be his/her prerogative	66	41	25	28	15	13	6
The government should play a role in assuring access to health insurance	65	35	30	30	12	18	6
All people do not need to be covered by health insurance	33	12	21	61	23	38	6
Employers should not be required to provide health insurance to employees	32	15	17	62	27	36	6

Note: Responses may not add up to 100% due to rounding

TABLE 2
AMERICANS AND HEALTH INSURANCE – By Type of Insurance
“How much do you agree or disagree with the following statements?”
Percent saying “Strongly/Somewhat Agree”

Base: All adults

	Total	Type of Health Insurance
	Total	EmployerSponsored	IndividuallyPurchased	Medicare	Medicaid	Noinsurance
	%	%	%	%	%	%
Children with a pre-existing condition should not be denied coverage by a health insurance company	83	85	79	83	76	81
Adults with a pre-existing condition should not be denied coverage by a health insurance company	83	86	79	82	83	77
If an individual purchases his/her own health insurance, they should receive a tax credit	74	77	75	72	58	73
If employers are not required to provide health insurance, those that do offer it should receive a tax credit	73	77	71	75	56	64
If a person doesn’t want health insurance, it should be his/her prerogative	66	66	69	60	71	68
The government should play a role in assuring access to health insurance	65	64	55	64	70	70
All people do not need to be covered by health insurance	33	30	46	31	36	36
Employers should not be required to provide health insurance to employees	32	28	54	31	34	31

Note: Responses may not add up to 100% due to rounding

TABLE 3
IMPORTANCE OF HEALTH INSURANCE SPECIFICS
“When it comes to health insurance, how important are each of the following to you?”

Base: All adults

	IMPORTANT(NET)	VeryImportant	SomewhatImportant	NOTIMPORTANT(NET)	Not that Important	Not at all Important	Not at allsure
	%	%	%	%	%	%	%
Access to the doctors, hospitals and services I need	91	79	12	4	2	2	4
Coverage for prescriptions	90	72	18	6	4	2	4
Availability of health insurance if I have a pre-existing condition	90	71	19	7	4	3	4
Lower out of pocket costs	89	66	24	7	5	2	4
Financial protection from major health crises	89	72	17	6	4	2	5
Low premiums	89	63	25	7	4	3	5
Coverage for preventative care	87	65	22	9	6	3	4
High customer service from my health insurance company	86	58	28	9	6	3	5
Availability of health insurance for my family and dependents	85	69	16	10	5	5	4
Availability of health insurance if I lose or change jobs	85	66	19	10	5	5	5
Coverage for wellness programs	82	54	28	14	10	4	4

Note: Responses may not add up to 100% due to rounding

TABLE 4
IMPORTANCE OF HEALTH INSURANCE SPECIFICS – By Type of Health Insurance
“When it comes to health insurance, how important are each of the following to you?”
Percent saying “Very/Somewhat Important”

Base: All adults

	TOTAL	Type of Health Insurance
	TOTAL	EmployerSponsored	IndividuallyPurchased	Medicare	Medicaid	Noinsurance
	%	%	%	%	%	%
Access to the doctors, hospitals and services I need	91	97	87	90	87	83
Coverage for prescriptions	90	95	76	88	88	85
Availability of health insurance if I have a pre-existing condition	90	94	83	89	83	84
Lower out of pocket costs	89	94	80	88	85	85
Financial protection from major health crises	89	93	88	89	78	80
Low premiums	89	94	83	87	78	82
Coverage for preventative care	87	93	74	89	75	82
High customer service from my health insurance company	86	91	78	88	79	76
Availability of health insurance for my family and dependents	85	90	75	86	78	81
Availability of health insurance if I lose or change jobs	85	93	76	79	78	80
Coverage for wellness programs	82	84	65	84	85	80

Note: Responses may not add up to 100% due to rounding

TABLE 4
MOST IMPORTANT COMPONENTS OF HEALTH INSURANCE
“When thinking about health insurance, which two of the following are most important to you?”

Base: Said at least one component was important

	TOTAL	Type of Health Insurance
	TOTAL	EmployerSponsored	IndividuallyPurchased	Medicare	Medicaid	Noinsurance
	%	%	%	%	%	%
Access to the doctors, hospitals and services I need	39	38	33	49	36	30
Financial protection from major health crises	27	28	33	36	7	17
Lower out of pocket costs	26	27	21	19	24	32
Low premiums	24	23	32	17	12	32
Coverage for prescriptions	23	22	21	28	33	17
Availability of health insurance for my family and dependents	22	27	19	14	26	20
Availability of health insurance if I have a pre-existing condition	16	13	24	16	10	20
Availability of health insurance if I lose or change jobs	10	11	8	6	9	16
Coverage for preventative care	9	8	4	7	16	11
High customer service from my health insurance company	4	2	9	6	6	5
Coverage for wellness programs	3	2	2	3	13	4

Note: Responses may not add up to 100% due to rounding

TABLE 5
TYPE OF HEALTH INSURANCE AMERICANS HAVE
“What type of health insurance do you currently have?”

Base: All adults

	TOTAL
	TOTAL
	%
An employer sponsored health insurance policy	46
Medicare plan	22
An individually purchased health insurance policy	9
Medicaid	5
I don’t have health insurance	18