KFF Survey of Consumer Experiences with Health Insurance

This KFF Survey of Consumer Experiences with Health Insurance was designed and analyzed by public opinion researchers at KFF. The survey was designed to reach a representative sample of insured adults in the U.S. The survey was conducted February 21 – March 14, 2023, online and by telephone among a nationally representative sample of 3,605 U.S. adults who have employer sponsored insurance plans (978), Medicaid (815), Medicare (885), Marketplace plans (880), or a Military plan (47).

The sample includes 2,595 insured adults reached through the SSRS Opinion Panel either online or over the phone (n=75 in Spanish). The SSRS Opinion Panel is a nationally representative probability-based panel where panel members are recruited randomly in one of two ways: (a) Through invitations mailed to respondents randomly sampled from an Address-Based Sample (ABS) provided by Marketing Systems Groups (MSG) through the U.S. Postal Service’s Computerized Delivery Sequence (CDS); (b) from a dual-frame random digit dial (RDD) sample provided by MSG. For the online panel component, invitations were sent to panel members by email followed by up to three reminder emails. 2,500 panel members completed the survey online and panel members who do not use the internet were reached by phone (95). Another 504 respondents were reached online through the Ipsos Knowledge Panel. This panel is recruited using ABS, based on a stratified sample from the CDS.

Another 289 (n=10 in Spanish) interviews were conducted from a random digit dial (RDD) of prepaid cell phone numbers (n=190) and landline telephone numbers (n=99). Phone numbers used for the prepaid cell phone component were randomly generated from a cell phone sampling frame with disproportionate stratification aimed at reaching Hispanic and non-Hispanic Black respondents. Stratification for the prepaid cell phone sample was based on incidence of the race/ethnicity groups within each frame. Phone numbers for the landline component were randomly generated from a landline sampling frame utilizing MSG’s listed household sampling frame to identify households with an adult age 65 or older and therefore more likely to have Medicare. This landline sample was also disproportionately stratified to reach African American and Hispanic respondents. An additional 217 respondents were reached by calling back respondents who said they were insured in previous KFF probability-based polls. Respondents in the phone samples received a $10 incentive via a check received by mail. SSRS web respondents received a $5 electronic gift card incentive (some harder-to-reach groups received a $10 electronic gift card). Ipsos Knowledge Panel respondents were included in raffles and sweepstakes for cash prizes as appreciation for their participation.

Respondents with Employer-sponsored plans, Medicaid, Medicare, and Marketplace plans from the combined phone and panel samples were weighted separately to match each group’s demographics using data from the 2021 American Community Survey (ACS). Weighting parameters included gender, age, education, race/ethnicity, and region. The weights take into account differences in the probability of selection for each sample type (cellphone sample, landline sample, callback phone sample, and panel). This includes adjustment for the sample design, within household probability of selection, and the design of the panel-recruitment procedure. The total sample of insured adults was also weighted to match demographics of insured adults using data from the 2021 American Community Survey (ACS).

The margin of sampling error including the design effect for the full sample is plus or minus 2 percentage points. Numbers of respondents and margins of sampling error for key subgroups are shown in the table below. For results based on other subgroups, the margin of sampling error may be higher. Sample sizes and margins of sampling error for other subgroups are available by request. Sampling error is only one of many potential sources of error and there may be other unmeasured error in this or any other public opinion poll. KFF public opinion and survey research is a charter member of the Transparency Initiative of the American Association for Public Opinion Research.

This work was supported in part by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. KFF maintains full editorial control over all of its policy analysis, polling, and journalism activities.