More than 40 percent of private-option enrollees who responded to a survey by the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences said they had never been covered by insurance as an adult before they signed up for the Medicaid-funded program for low-income Arkansans, a UAMS professor said Friday.
Mick Tilford, chairman of the health policy and management department at the university's Fay W. Boozman College of Public Health, also said 77 percent of survey respondents covered by plans on the state's health insurance exchange, including those enrolled in the private option, reported visiting the doctor at least once in the past six months.
Forty-two percent of those surveyed reported visiting the doctor three or more times during the same period, Tilford said.
He said that finding wasn't surprising.
"We could have had a lot of people who made the initial contact, and they go back for follow-up care," Tilford said.
The survey, which included responses from 1,212 Arkansans who signed up for coverage through the exchange, was part of an evaluation by the college of the first year of enrollment.
Using federal grant money, the Arkansas Insurance Department commissioned the evaluation at a cost of about $725,000, Tilford said.
During meetings Friday at the Insurance Department's offices in Little Rock, Tilford presented a sample of preliminary findings from the evaluation to the exchange's plan management and consumer assistance advisory committees.
The margin of error for the survey findings has not been calculated, and the results have not been adjusted to account for differing response rates among demographic groups, Tilford said.
For instance, he said, enrollees ages 55-64 made up 23.5 percent of those who were mailed surveys but 39.7 percent of those who returned the surveys.
Enrollees ages 25-34 made up 23.3 percent of those receiving surveys but only 14.2 percent of those who responded.
Also, more than half of those who responded were enrolled in non-private-option plans, even though private-option enrollees make up a large majority of those receiving coverage through the exchange.
Researchers are still analyzing the results, which will be compiled in a final report expected to be issued in June, Tilford said.
According to the state Department of Human Services, more than 205,000 Arkansans were enrolled in the private option as of Feb. 15.
Under the program, the state uses federal Medicaid funds made available under the 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to buy coverage on the exchange for adults with incomes of up to 138 percent of the poverty level: $16,105 for an individual, for instance, or $32,913 for a family of four.
In addition, federal tax-credit subsidies to help buy coverage are available to many people who don't qualify for Medicaid and who have incomes of less than 400 percent of the poverty level: for example, $45,960 for an individual or $94,200 for a family of four.
According to the Insurance Department, 68,131 Arkansans who did not qualify for Medicaid were enrolled in plans on the exchange as of April 1.
The survey of enrollees was conducted from November through early February, Tilford said.
According to the summary of the preliminary results, 43 percent of respondents enrolled in the private option and 14 percent of those in non-private-option plans said they had never been covered by health insurance as an adult before signing up for coverage on the exchange.
In addition, 64 percent of private option enrollees who responded, and 44 percent of respondents covered by other exchange plans, said they had been uninsured for at least six months before signing up through the exchange.
Most of those who responded also reported being satisfied with their access to medical care. For instance, 81.1 percent indicated they were able to get care in a timely manner, compared with a benchmark measure of 81.6 percent for Medicaid recipients nationwide.
Fewer respondents were highly satisfied with their coverage, however. According to the summary of results, 67.5 percent of respondents who were enrolled in the private option indicated they were highly satisfied with their plan, compared with 58.5 percent of respondents on non-private option plans and a benchmark measure of 74.8 percent for Medicaid recipients nationwide.
Marquita Little, a chairman of the consumer assistance committee and director of health care policy for Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families, said the survey "just supports what we already knew, in that a lot of folks are getting access to coverage for the very first time because of the private option."
She said she hopes the full evaluation report will shed light on the differences in the needs and experiences of those on private option and non-private option plans.
"It helps us just fine-tune our process here at the state level," she said.
Metro on 04/11/2015