More than half of insurers won’t raise their rates because of the pandemic, according to a new report from eHealth on Wednesday.
But a third of them intend to change their plan benefits, with nearly 9 in 10 of those insurers likely to adjust their telehealth and mental health benefits. In addition, more than half of insurers reported that their telehealth utilization grew by at least 50%.
Michael Zundel, national director of recruiting at UnitedHealthOne, told eHealth that telehealth use will continue to grow now that the pandemic exposed many consumers to its benefits.
“As technological advancements continue to improve the consumer experience, this option will become even more attractive,” he said.
Although nearly half of insurers plan to raise rates because of the pandemic, the vast majority will increase their premiums by less than 5%. And just 8% of them will boost premiums by 5% or more.
A third of commercial payers told eHealth that telehealth use among their beneficiaries grew by half. The remaining two-thirds of insurers were split evenly, with each group seeing telehealth grow by 10%, 25% and 100% or more, respectively.
eHealth surveyed 26 health insurance representatives between May 1 and May 13 for the report. The payers represented provide health coverage to more than 100 million Americans.
The company also surveyed more than 4,700 consumers to get their perspectives on a range of healthcare issues.
Medicare expansion was popular, with 3 in 5 consumers reporting that they would favor extending the program to more Americans in some form. More than a quarter of them favored making it available to all Americans. And nearly three-quarters of consumers said the federal government should directly negotiate with drugmakers to lower costs.
In addition, nearly 7 in 10 people said they’d had a surprise bill. But more than two-thirds of them said it was because they didn’t understand their coverage.
More than half of consumers told eHealth that they would share their personal health information with a licensed agent to help them get a better plan.