Most New Yorkers covered by private health-insurance plans do not understand how their premiums are spent, according to a new poll by Zogby International.
The survey, which polled more than 1,000 privately insured adults in New York showed that "a significant gap exists between perception and reality when it comes to understanding how much of each insurance premium dollar is dedicated to patient care, expenses, and profit," a press release from Zogby said.
"Statewide, the average poll respondent believes 51 percent of premiums are spent on medical care, 24 percent is spent on the insurer’s business expenses, and the remaining 25 percent is profit to the insurer. Reality paints a much different picture."
A study of 2004 financial filings of 20 New York private health insurers with more than $30 billion in premium revenue showed that more than 85 percent of premiums were spent on medical care, the press release said. Eleven percent of premiums went to business expenses, and four percent was profit or net revenue.
"Consumer misperceptions were consistent across upstate and downstate regions, and there was little relationship between perception and accuracy based on the respondents’ age, gender or education levels," the press release said.
“The most productive public policy debates are those based on a common set of facts versus a common set of perceptions that are far from reality,” said John Zogby. “It’s apparent from this poll that much work remains to bring even the most well-educated consumers up to speed on how health insurance premium dollars are spent.”
The findings of the Zogby survey are available in PDF format at www.zogby.com/Zogby%20Percep%20V%20Real%20EX.pdf.