Patient Attitudes Concerning Managed Care in Massachusetts

NewsCenter Polls

This survey was administered October 13-17, 1995 and includes complete responses from 411 adults. The margin of error is +/-5.0%.

Would you say you are very confident in your primary care physician, somewhat confident or not very confident?

	Fee for Service	HMO	Total
Very Confident	84%	67%	72%
Somewhat Confident	13%	18%	17%
Not Very Confident	3%	11%	9%

Would you say your are very concerned that your primary care physician will provide unnecessary care in order to increase his or her income, somewhat concerned, or not very concerned?

	Fee for Service	HMO	Total
Very Concerned	19%	5%	9%
Somewhat Concerned	9%	8%	8%
Not Very Concerned	72%	84%	81%
No Opinion	0%	3%	2%

Do you think the doctor-patient relationship is generally better for patients enrolled in an HMO, or better for patients enrolled in fee-for-service health insurance plan?

	FFS	HMO	Total
HMO	6%	27%	20%
FFS	54%	22%	33%
Either	40%	51%	47%

Satisfaction with Current Health Insurance Plan Compared by Type and History of Health Insurance

	FFS	FFS	HMO	HMO
	No Managed Care	Managed Care	HMO Only	Previously FFS
Very Satisfied	58%	60%	62%	40%
Somewhat Satisfied	37%	31%	32%	29%
Somewhat Dissatisfied	5%	6%	3%	29%
Very Dissatisfied	0%	2%	1%	0%
No Opinion	0%	1%	2%	2%

Satisfaction with Overall Coverage Compared by Current Health Insurance Plan.

	FFS	HMO	Total
Very Satisfied	58%	48%	51%
Somewhat Satisfied	36%	37%	37%
Somewhat Dissatisfied	5%	13%	11%
Very Dissatisfied	1%	1%	1%
No Opinion	0%	2%	1%

Satisfaction with Overall Coverage Compared by Type and History of Health Insurance.

	FFS	FFS	HMO	HMO
	No Managed Care	Managed Care	HMO Only	Previously FFS
Very Satisfied	65%	55%	56%	38%
Somewhat Satisfied	30%	38%	38%	36%
Somewhat Dissatisfied	5%	6%	3%	24%
Very Dissatisfied	0%	1%	1%	1%
No Opinion	0%	0%	2%	2%

Satisfaction with Access to Primary Care Physician of Choice compared by Current Health Insurance Plan

	FFS	HMO	Total
Very Satisfied	72%	53%	59%
Somewhat Satisfied	23%	25%	24%
Somewhat Dissatisfied	2%	15%	11%
Very Dissatisfied	2%	3%	3%
No Opinion	1%	3%	3%

Satisfaction with Access to Primary Care Physician of Choice Compared by Type and History of Health Insurance

	FFS	FFS	HMO	HMO
	No Managed Care	Managed Care	HMO Only	Previously FFS
Very Satisfied	65%	75%	67%	38%
Somewhat Satisfied	30%	20%	25%	24%
Somewhat Dissatisfied	0%	3%	4%	29%
Very Dissatisfied	2%	1%	3%	4%
No Opinion	2%	1%	1%	5%

Satisfaction with Access to Specialist of Choice Compared by Current Health Insurance Plan

	FFS	HMO	Total
Very Satisfied	70%	46%	54%
Somewhat Satisfied	22%	28%	26%
Somewhat Dissatisfied	2%	14%	10%
Very Dissatisfied	1%	2%	2%
No Opinion	5%	9%	8%

Satisfaction with Access to Specialist of Choice Compared by Type and History of Health Insurance

	FFS	FFS	HMO	HMO
	No Managed Care	Managed Care	HMO Only	Previously FFS
Very Satisfied	67%	71%	55%	35%
Somewhat Satisfied	26%	21%	30%	26%
Somewhat Dissatisfied	0%	2%	6%	24%
Very Dissatisfied	0%	1%	2%	2%
No Opinion	7%	4%	6%	13%

Have You Ever Been Discouraged from Going to Emergency Room or Denied Reimbursement for Emergency Care?

	FFS	HMO	Total
Discouraged	2%	5%	4%
Denied	2%	14%	10%
No	96%	81%	100%

In HMO Plans, Business People Decide Your Health Care, No Doctors?

	FFS Patients	HMO Patients	Total
Agree	37%	38%	38%
Disagree	41%	53%	49%
No Opinion	22%	9%	13%

HMO Plans Prevent Doctors from Providing Needed Medical Care In Order to Save Costs?

	FFS Patients	HMO Patients	Total
Agree	34%	39%	37%
Disagree	26%	49%	41%
No Opinion	40%	12%	21%

In FFS Plans, Business People Decide Your Health Care, No Doctors?

	FFS Patients	HMO Patients	Total
Agree	18%	21%	20%
Disagree	69%	49%	56%
No Opinion	13%	30%	24%

FFS Plans Prevent Doctors from Providing Needed Medical Care In Order to Save Costs?

	FFS Patients	HMO Patients	Total
Agree	16%	10%	12%
Disagree	73%	55%	61%
No Opinion	11%	35%	27%

If you personally were given a choice between joining an HMO or joining a traditional fee-for-service health insurance plan, which would you prefer?

	FFS Patients	HMO Patients	Total
HMO	11%	53%	39%
FFS	76%	31%	46%
No Opinion	13%	16%	15%

Prefer FFS or HMO Plan, If Given Choice, compared by Type and History of Current Health Insurance Plan

	FFS	FFS	HMO	HMO
	No Managed Care	Managed Care	HMO Only	Previously FFS
HMO	5%	14%	65%	39%
FFS	79%	75%	18%	46%
No Preference	16%	11%	17%	15%

This Survey is the property of WCVB-TV, The Boston Herald and the University of New Hampshire Survey Center. It may not be reproduced or distributed without permission.

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