2007 Health Confidence Survey: Rising Health Care Costs are Changing the Ways Americans Use the Health Care System

12 Pages Posted: 15 Nov 2007

See all articles by Ruth Helman

Ruth Helman

Greenwald & Associates

Paul Fronstin

Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI)

Abstract

This paper presents findings from the 2007 Health Confidence Survey (HCS), the 10th wave of an annual survey to assess the attitudes of the American public regarding the health care system in the United States. Findings from the 2007 HCS demonstrate that rising health care costs increasingly are changing the way Americans use the health care system. Many of these changes are positive. Others, such as delaying going to the doctor and not filling or skipping doses of prescribed medications, could hurt their health status. Perhaps because of rising costs, Americans with employment-based health benefits value it above the actual dollar amount that employers pay toward the coverage, and many favor an employer mandate (meaning a law requiring employers to offer or contribute to health insurance coverage for their workers) that includes all employers, regardless of size.

The survey was conducted within the United States between May 17 and June 10, 2007, through 20-minute telephone interviews with 1,000 individuals ages 21 and older. Random digit dialing was used to obtain a representative cross section of the U.S. population. Interview quotas were established by sex of respondent and employment status, and the data were weighted by gender, age, education, and employment status to reflect the actual proportions in the population. The HCS is co-sponsored by the Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI), a private, nonprofit, nonpartisan public policy research organization, and Mathew Greenwald & Associates, Inc., a Washington, D.C.-based market research firm.

Keywords: Employment-based benefits, Health care attitudes and opinions, Health care utilization, Health insurance attitudes and opinions

JEL Classification: I1, J32

Suggested Citation

Helman, Ruth and Fronstin, Paul, 2007 Health Confidence Survey: Rising Health Care Costs are Changing the Ways Americans Use the Health Care System. EBRI Notes, Vol. 28, No. 11, November 2007, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1030108

Ruth Helman (Contact Author)

Greenwald & Associates ( email )

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Paul Fronstin

Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI) ( email )

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United States
202-775-6352 (Phone)
202-775-6312 (Fax)

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