People with Medicaid Are More Likely to Report Poor Health Status but Majority Rate Overall Performance of the Program Positively

This week, KFF released a report based on findings from their 2023 Survey of Consumer Experiences with Health Insurance focusing on the experiences and perspectives of people with Medicaid.

The survey found that, compared to people with other forms of health insurance, people with Medicaid reported worse health status, which they note “could lead to greater need for health care and more opportunities to encounter problems with the system.” The report notes that, for people with different kinds of coverage, those who utilize more health care services experience more problems with their insurance.

Indeed, more than half of Medicaid enrollees report having experienced “a problem” in the past year – reporting fewer cost-related problems than people with Marketplace or employer-based coverage, but more problems related to prior authorization and provider access. These differences in the types of problems – access as compared to cost – may contribute to the higher rates of Medicaid enrollees who report certain negative outcomes arising out of insurance problems as compared to employer coverage and Medicare. These problems include declines in health and being unable to access recommended treatment.

Despite these issues, most enrollees rate their Medicaid coverage positively, with 83% of enrollees rating the overall performance as “excellent” or “good.” This positive rating is similar to ratings among people with employer coverage, (80%), lower than those with Medicare (91%) and higher than those with Marketplace coverage (73%).

Read the full report here.