Last week, we reported on a new issue brief from the Kaiser Family Foundation that examined the affordability of ACA coverage for people with low incomes. (For that news item, click here.) This has been followed by a new survey from the Urban Institute entitled “Health Care Access and Affordability among Low and Moderate Income Insured and Uninsured Adults under the Affordable Care Act.” The survey looks at data from the September 2015 Health Reform Monitoring Survey and focuses on those individuals at 400% of the federal poverty level or lower and compares three types of coverage: Medicaid, Marketplace coverage and employer-sponsored insurance. The Urban Institute has three main take-aways from this report:
- As of September 2015, low- and moderate-income adults with Marketplace coverage were more likely to have a usual source of care and less likely to have had unmet needs for general doctor and specialist care in the past 12 months than uninsured adults with such incomes.
- Low- and moderate-income adults with Marketplace coverage are no more likely to report problems paying medical bills or have high out-of-pocket costs than those with employer-sponsored insurance (ESI).
- Low- and moderate-income adults with Marketplace coverage are as satisfied with their health plans as those with ESI in terms of premiums charged, but are less satisfied with their choice of providers and the protection their plans provide against high medical bills.
To download a copy of this survey, click here.