PlusInc Survey Highlights Growing Concerns in Connecticut about Health Insurance Costs, Coverage, and Access to Care
For years, the healthcare affordability conversation has focused primarily on the cost of medicines. But a new survey of Connecticut voters suggests many patients are equally concerned about another part of the healthcare system: the growing impact of health insurance companies on the care people receive. Growing evidence suggests that the cost-containment strategies used by insurance companies, pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs), and other payors are fueling health disparities in the United States.
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The survey, commissioned by PlusInc and conducted among 1,602 Connecticut voters registered as Democrats from September 11th-14th, found broad concern about rising premiums, changing coverage requirements, and insurance policies that can stand between patients and the treatments their doctors prescribe.
Nearly three-quarters of respondents said health insurance companies have too much influence over treatment decisions. Significant majorities also expressed concern about rising insurance premiums, shrinking provider networks, and restrictions that can delay access to physician-prescribed medicines.
Beyond these findings, the survey highlighted another concerning trend: many Connecticut residents struggle to understand how different stakeholders in the healthcare ecosystem affect care costs.
The survey points to a broader reality facing patients and families: healthcare affordability is not simply about the price of care. It is also about whether that care remains accessible once patients leave the doctor's office. The unevenness in how payor-driven decisions impact different patient populations is something that policymakers can no longer afford to ignore.
"Patients don't experience healthcare through policy debates. They experience it when they are trying to fill a prescription, schedule an appointment, or access the treatment their doctor recommends," said Matt Toresco, Chief Executive Officer of Archo Advocacy and PlusInc board member. "What we're seeing is frustration with the barriers that can make healthcare more expensive, more complicated, and harder to navigate."
The survey also found strong interest in reforms that improve affordability and increase access to care. When presented with competing healthcare policy approaches, respondents overwhelmingly preferred reforms focused on lowering premiums and improving access to care over policies that would tie U.S. healthcare costs to prices established in other countries.
For PlusInc, the findings reinforce the organization's longstanding mission to elevate patient voices and encourage healthcare policies that improve access, affordability, and health outcomes. They also complement the work to elevate the “Cost Containment vs. Care Equality” paradigm into the national healthcare conversation.
Too often, conversations about healthcare costs focus on only one piece of a complex system. Patients, however, experience the cumulative impact of premiums, deductibles, coverage restrictions, provider network limitations, and administrative hurdles that can make timely care more difficult to access.
"The message we hear consistently from patients and patient advocates is simple," echoed Michelle Anderson, Founder of the Narrative Power Institute and PlusInc board member. "Healthcare should be affordable, coverage should be meaningful, and medical decisions should be guided by patients and their healthcare providers. Those priorities deserve a larger role in our national healthcare conversation."
As policymakers continue debating healthcare reforms, the survey findings offer an important reminder: voters want solutions that address the full range of costs and barriers that affect patients every day, not just a single segment of the healthcare system.
