Although the managed care industry is often maligned in the press and most public opinion polls rank it "right near the bottom with tobacco companies," a new Harris Poll reveals that 69% of Americans with health insurance give their own health plans an "A" or "B" grade.
These positive ratings are in direct contrast to the consistently negative scores that managed care receives in virtually every other measure of public perception and industry image. According to Mark Merritt of the American Association of Health Plans, "The biggest secret in health-care polling is patients are just as satisfied in managed care as they are in fee-for-service."
Conducted in mid-December, the new poll revealed that 34% of respondents gave their health plan an "A" and 35% assigned their plan a "B" grade. Meanwhile, 23% gave their plan a "C," 6% rated their plan a "D," and only 2% gave their plan a failing grade. Other data indicate that satisfaction with employer-provided insurance has actually increased-with the number of Americans giving their plan an "A" ranking increasing by 8% since mid-1999.
According to Merritt, the reason that no anti-managed care bills have emerged from Congress is because "people are fundamentally satisfied with their health care coverage." Humphrey Taylor of The Harris Poll believes the discrepancy between the public's perception of managed care and their satisfaction with their own plan is because "…the media has been giving them [managed care and health insurance] a beating…and many doctors actually bad mouth managed care to their patients."
From "Most Americans Happy with Their Health Plans," Reuters News