Obamacare customers during the first few years of the exchanges are largely satisfied with their plans, but some are concerned about the cost, a federal watchdog found.
A collection of three national surveys of plan holders reported overall satisfaction with their plans from 2014 to this year, according to a report from the Government Accountability Office. However, some enrollees found out-of-pocket costs were too expensive before reaching their deductibles.
The report comes a few months before a pivotal open enrollment for Obamacare starts Nov. 1. The White House is making a major push to increase enrollment this year, focusing on boosting enrollment among youths and people who had to pay the individual mandate penalty for not having insurance.
The GAO looked at a series of surveys to rank satisfaction with plans. A survey from the nonpartisan Commonwealth Fund showed 77 percent of plan holders were satisfied in 2016, down about 4 percentage points from 81 percent in 2015.
However, that 2015 total is 16 percentage points higher than the satisfaction score for 2014, which was 65 percent.
Another survey from consulting firm Deloitte looked at enrollee satisfaction from 2016 to 2015. It found that plan satisfaction was 85 percent this year, compared with 86 percent in 2015.
The research firm PerryUndem’s survey found that 74 percent of enrollees liked their plan in 2015 and did not survey any other years.
Other results showed concerns about the cost of the healthcare coverage, however.
For instance, a 2016 survey from the nonpartisan Kaiser Family Foundation discovered that 51 percent were satisfied with their annual deductible amount, while more than half (59 percent) were satisfied with their monthly premium.
Another survey from Commonwealth Fund found that only 49 percent reported ease in affording premiums.
The lingering concerns about premiums come as some states and plans are bracing for high spikes in 2017.
A July report from Kaiser looked at the premiums for the second-lowest cost silver plan, which is the middle category of Obamacare plans, in about 17 cities.
It found that the average increase for such plans would be 9 percent in 2017, compared to 2 percent in 2016.
Experts say that this year could result in higher premiums due to a market correction, as insurers generally underpriced their plans when the marketplace went online in 2014.
