HealthPocket: Two Out of Three Americans Want to Choose Their Own Health Insurance

 A newly released health insurance survey from HealthPocket has found that working Americans who prefer to choose their own health insurance far outnumber those who would rather lay the responsibility on their employers. Just 22 percent of survey respondents preferred that their employer be in charge of the decision making. Another 38 percent said that they were either unemployed or weren’t offered insurance by their employers.

About two-thirds of all insured persons in the U.S. (169 million people) receive their health coverage through their jobs, meaning their options are restricted by choices made for them by their employers. Workers in the family and individual coverage markets may purchase insurance on their own but employer-sponsored plans remain more desirable due to employer contributions to insurance premiums, a broader list of health benefits with fewer limitations and no potential for application rejections or health-history based insurance hikes.

Some of the disadvantages of the individual markets will be eliminated under the PPACA, which is focused on shifting towards an individual-driven healthcare market rather than one dominated by groups.

“The stage is set under Obamacare for a decline in employer-sponsored health insurance and a rise in individually purchased coverage,” said Bruce Telkamp, CEO of HealthPocket. “Our poll reveals that, with respect to the selection of a health insurance company, personal choice is what workers want. For those workers who will migrate from employer-sponsored to individually purchased health insurance, they’ll get the control they desire.”