March 2004

Healthcare costs not a difficult problem for most Americans

PRNewsire — Majorities of the U.S. public say they know what their health care premiums, doctor visits, prescription drugs and deductibles cost while far fewer say they do not, according to the results of a recent new Harris Interactive(R) poll conducted for The Wall Street Journal Online's Health Industry Edition.

People who say they "know exactly" how much they pay for their health insurance premiums include those who purchase their own health insurance (61 percent), have employer-provided insurance (45 percent) or are insured through Medicare (56 percent). Twelve percent of all insured adults say they "have no idea" what their premiums cost.

Overall, few found paying for healthcare difficult except for those on Medicare whose percentages were higher than for other groups.

"The good news is that most people do not find it difficult to pay their insurance premiums or out-of-pocket costs. The bad news is that those who find it very difficult -- up to 20 million adults -- include many sick, low-income people who really need the care," says Humphrey Taylor, chairman of The Harris Poll(R) at Harris Interactive.

Downloadable PDFs of Wall Street Journal Online/Harris Interactive healthcare polls are posted at www.harrisinteractive.com/news/newsletters_wsj.asp.

Source: Harris Interactive

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