Horizon BCBSNJ: New Survey Reveals 75 Percent of New Jersey Residents Believe Health Care Costs Are Too High
Newark, NJ (PRWEB) October 03, 2015 -- A new survey released today by Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey (Horizon BCBSNJ) and TargetSmart Communications finds that a majority of New Jersey residents, 75 percent, believe that the price of health care in New Jersey is too high.
By a margin of nearly 3-to-1, survey respondents also support Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey’s effort to introduce tiered health plans offering lower premiums and the ability to save on out-of-pocket costs by seeking care at certain, but not all, network hospitals and doctors.
New Jersey residents pay the second highest health care costs in the country. In addition, New Jersey’s health care costs are rising 25 percent faster than the national average.
“We commissioned this survey after hearing the concerns raised by legislators and others following the announcement of the OMNIA Health Alliance,” said Robert A. Marino, chairman and CEO of Horizon BCBSNJ. “As part of our ongoing efforts to respond to what consumers tell us they want, we felt it important to validate what we’ve heard from our customers – rising health care costs are unsustainable.”
Horizon BCBSNJ plans to offer new tiered health plans with significantly lower monthly premiums and lower out-of-pocket costs for consumers seeking care at certain hospitals and doctors across the state.
According to the survey, New Jersey residents find high premiums and deductibles most dissatisfying about their current health plans. When asked about tiered health plans that offer lower monthly premiums and lower out-of-pocket costs when seeking care at “certain, but not all, doctors and hospitals in Horizon’s networks across New Jersey,” 44 percent of respondents said they would support such plans as compared to16 percent who would not.
“The results of this survey are not surprising. New Jersey businesses need more options for quality, affordable health insurance, and we have been asking for it for years,” said Jeffrey Scheininger, President of Flexline Inc. and former chairman of the New Jersey Chamber of Commerce. “I applaud Horizon BCBSNJ and the other members of the OMNIA Health Alliance for responding with a solution that rewards high-quality care, a better patient experience and lower total costs for New Jersey residents and businesses.”
Learn more by visiting: http://www.WhatHealthCareCostsNJ.com/Listening.
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About Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey
Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey, the state's oldest and largest health insurer is a tax-paying, not-for-profit health service corporation, providing a wide array of medical, dental, and prescription insurance products and services. Horizon BCBSNJ is leading the transformation of health care in New Jersey by working with doctors and hospitals to deliver innovative, patient-centered programs that reward the quality, not quantity, of care patients receive. Learn more at http://www.HorizonBlue.com. Horizon BCBSNJ is an independent licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association serving more than 3.8 million members.
TargetSmart Communications designed and administered this interactive voice response (IVR) survey. Telephone numbers were randomly selected from registered voters on the voter file. The survey reached 1331 adult respondents who matched records on the voter file, including respondents who participated on wireless phones. The survey data was down-weighted to an effective sample size of 600 for a representative sample of likely voters. The overall margin of error is 4.0%. The margin of error for demographic subgroups varies.
The survey was conducted September 30th through October 1st, 2015.
Thomas Vincz, Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey, +1 (973) 466-6625, [email protected]
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