CHICAGO — As the push for employers to offer consumer-directed health plans in an effort to stem rising health costs continues, a recent survey finds that when it comes to health, consumers are not that interested in research and comparison shopping.
A recent Destiny Health, Opinion Research Corporation survey reveals that Americans spend twice as much time researching car and computer purchases than they do in selecting a doctor, and six in 10 say they probably wouldn't change their ways even if price and quality information on health care providers was readily available.
According to Barry Swartzberg, executive director of Destiny Health's sister company Discovery Health, with an estimated 97% of insured Americans covered by traditional forms of health insurance, the results show that such plans keep consumers disengaged from the health care process. This, he said, is because Americans with traditional health insurance see little or nothing to gain from seeking the lower prices or higher quality of care that might be available from providers outside their insurer's network.
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The survey finds that only 10% of survey respondents said they would be "extremely likely" to "shop around" for medical services if they could obtain information on the prices and quality of doctors and hospitals. Combined with the "very likely" responses (29%), the total percentage of respondents likely to shop around for health care remains below 40%.
"There is a real gap here, but the onus is not entirely on the American consumer," Swartzberg said. "With traditional insurance paying the bill, there is no compelling reason for Americans to care about getting the best deal from their medical providers and therein lies the problem. Americans are not health care consumers. Americans are passive users of a system that clearly doesn't work."
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