ABSTRACT
This chapter explores how consumers with employer-provided coverage choose their health plans. Consumers are often on their own to locate reliable information about their health insurance plans. Consumers Union conducted qualitative market research in two phases, with more than fifty consumers, in Stamford, Connecticut, and Boston, Massachusetts. In the first phase, Consumers Union conducted focus groups among Connecticut residents who had purchased individual health insurance plans within the previous two years and who were ineligible for Medicare or Medicaid. The Massachusetts Commonwealth Health Insurance Connector Authority and the federal government offer Web sites, so that consumers can shop for and compare different features of health insurance plans. The second phase focuses on groups of uninsured Massachusetts residents who would soon be faced with the decision of purchasing health insurance to do additional testing on the prototype plan summary to further refine the language and format of the prototype.
