Nearly One Third of Americans Now Comparison Shop for Health Care, Study Finds

A new study from health insurance company UnitedHealthcare finds that more people (32%) are using websites and mobile apps to comparison shop for health care, up from 14% in 2012.

However, only 7% of Americans have a full understanding of all four basic insurance concepts: plan premium, deductible, co-insurance and out-of-pocket maximum.

People prefer other activities to enrolling in a health benefits plan during open enrollment. For example, a quarter (25%) of respondents said they would rather file their annual income taxes than select a health plan.

This is not surprising.

When it comes to customer service, Americans prefer live support. More than three-quarters (78%) of respondents preferred speaking with a customer service representative, with email or online chat the next most popular options at 7% each.

Hmmm, we bet they’d prefer some other things even more, including premiums that don’t rise by 15% each year, and care being covered without patients getting a big runaround from the insurance company.