Obamacare Enrollees Rate Coverage Worse Than Those Insured From Another Source

Higher-income, older Americans rate Obamacare the highest

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BY: Ali Meyer  Americans with Obamacare coverage rate the quality of coverage lower than those who obtained health insurance from another source, according to a poll from Gallup.

For those individuals on the Obamacare exchange, 74 percent rated their health coverage as excellent or good, while 26 percent rated the coverage as fair or poor.

In comparison, 81 percent of those that purchased their health insurance from another source rated it as excellent or good and only 19 percent rated it as fair or poor.

"Fewer insurance providers and increased premiums on some state exchanges in 2017 could be driving perceptions that the quality of coverage purchased on exchanges lags behind that acquired from other sources," Gallup explains.

Individuals who rated themselves in poor health were much more likely to purchase health insurance on the exchange, 27 percent, than those in excellent health at 12 percent. There were 73 percent of individuals in poor health that purchased health insurance off the exchanges.

Those in poor health who purchased insurance on the exchanges are also more likely to rate their coverage as fair or poor. Thirty-nine percent of those in poor health said their coverage was fair or poor, compared with 62 percent of those who said it was excellent or good.

"To sustain robust exchanges, health care markets must attract enough healthy purchasers whose lower cost burden helps offset the steeper costs of less-healthy purchasers," Gallup explains. "Yet, these results suggest that not only are adults with the poorest health the most likely to purchase coverage on exchanges, but they also receive the lowest-quality coverage."

The individuals that rate Obamacare coverage the highest are those with higher incomes and older Americans.

Eighty-nine percent of those 65 and up and 82 percent of those with incomes more than $90,000 a year rated the health coverage on the exchanges as excellent or good.

"Nearly 9 in 10 in this age group—the vast majority of whom receive Medicare coverage—consider their insurance to be excellent or good," Gallup explains. "By comparison, three-quarters of those aged 25 to 65 rate their coverage this highly."

http://freebeacon.com/issues/obamacare-enrollees-rate-coverage-worse-insured-another-source/