eHealthInsurance Survey Provides Snapshot of Individual & Family Health Insurance Shoppers before and after Health Care Reform

September 12, 2011
MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA—September 12, 2011 – Today eHealthInsurance (NASDAQ: EHTH), the leading online source of health insurance for individuals, families, and small businesses, released results from its National Consumer Survey of Individual & Family Health Insurance Shoppers, an ongoing survey of consumers shopping for health insurance products through eHealthInsurance.com.
                                                                   
The survey presents a demographic analysis of consumers contacting the eHealthInsurance Customer Care Center between September 2010 and February 2011. It also presents a year-over-year comparison of consumer responses to the same survey questions gathered between September 2009 and February 2010. As such, survey results may track some of the changes occurring in the marketplace through a snapshot of consumer contacts made with eHealthInsurance since the passage of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act on March 23, 2010.
 
2010-2011 Survey Period Highlights:
Key survey insights gathered from consumers contacting the eHealthInsurance Customer Care Center between September 2010 and February 2011 include the following:
  • More than three in ten respondents (34%) reported being uninsured
  • More than two in ten (23%) report being unemployed
  • Nearly one in four (24.5%) of those employed report being self-employed
  • One third (33.8%) of those employed report working for a small business
  • More than half of respondents (52%) cite rate increases or the need for more affordable coverage as a reason for shopping
Year-over-Year Survey Highlights:
Answers to the same questions from the September 2009-February 2010 survey period and September 2010-February 2011 survey period were compared, with some notable results:
  • The number of unemployed persons shopping for health insurance increased 4.2%
  • An increased percentage of consumers report looking for alternatives to COBRA coverage in the 2010-2011 period compared to the year prior (16.2% in 2010-2011 compared to 13.6% in 2009-2010)
  • Only 4.6% of survey respondents were between the ages of 18-24 in the 2010-2011 survey period, compared with 8.0% for the 2009-2010 period
  • The percentage of shoppers in the 55-64 year age range increased 4.5%
Consumer Demographics:
According to demographics gathered in the survey, the typical individual & family health insurance shopper for the period between September 2010 and February 2011 is:
  • Female (62.4%)
  • College Educated (67.4)
  • Married (52.6%)
  • Between 45 and 64 years old (56.7%)
  • Employed full-time or part-time (65.2%)
  • Needs coverage within thirty days (74.2%)
Full results of the survey are available here or through the eHealthInsurance Media Center.
 
Survey Methodology:
The results of this ongoing survey were compiled by online poll. The survey was sent by email to consumers who contacted the eHealthInsurance Customer Care Center by telephone and who provided an email address. Participation in the survey is voluntary and so self-selection bias may be present in the results. Survey results considered in this report were compiled between September 2010 and February 2011. For the purposes of year-over-year comparison, responses to the same questions were also compiled from data gathered a year earlier, between September 2009 and February 2010. Information released in this report was compiled from a total of 2104 respondents (out of 33,887 surveys sent) in the September 2010-February 2011 period, and 1573 respondents (out of 26,192 surveys sent) in the September 2009-February 2010 time period. Given the nature of this survey, a margin of sampling error for all respondents is not readily available.
 
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About eHealth
eHealth, Inc. (NASDAQ: EHTH) is the parent company of eHealthInsurance, the nation's leading online source of health insurance for individuals, families and small businesses. Through the company's website, www.eHealthInsurance.com, consumers can get quotes from leading health insurance carriers, compare plans side by side, and apply for and purchase health insurance. eHealthInsurance offers thousands of individual, family and small business health plans underwritten by more than 180 of the nation's leading health insurance companies. eHealthInsurance is licensed to sell health insurance in all 50 states and the District of Columbia, making it the ideal model of a successful, high-functioning health insurance exchange. Through the company’s eHealthTechnology solution (www.eHealthTechnology.com), eHealth is also a leading provider of health insurance exchange technology. eHealthTechnology’s exchange platform provides a suite of hosted e-commerce solutions that enable health plan providers, resellers and government entities to market and distribute products online. eHealth, Inc. also provides powerful online and pharmacy-based tools to help seniors navigate Medicare health insurance options, choose the right plan and enroll in select plans online through its wholly-owned subsidiary, PlanPrescriber.com (www.planprescriber.com) and through its Medicare website www.eHealthMedicare.com.   
                                                                                                             
For more health insurance news and information, visit the eHealthInsurance consumer blog: Get Smart – Get Covered.
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