Dream Job? 1 in 3 would reject it over health insurance concerns

A new survey has revealed one in three Americans would turn down a dream job if it didn’t offer good health insurance options.

The poll of 2,000 U.S. adults found three-quarters (73%) consider healthcare options an important factor if they were looking for a new job, and 63% wouldn’t be afraid to ask about their options during a job interview.

However, given the state of importance placed on healthcare by Americans, 42% believe their employer only offers them the bare minimum for health insurance options. In fact, 44% believe they’d have better health options if the issue was brought to the attention of their employer.

With benefits enrollment season upon us, the study, commissioned by Tres Health and conducted by Talker Research, revealed that many find their healthcare lacking or unaffordable — in fact, 42% said they’d even change jobs if a potential new employer were to offer better healthcare options than what they currently have.

Forty-two percent who reported they were currently employed believe their current employer doesn’t care about their health or the health of their co-workers. This was especially true for those who stated they had an income below $60,000.

Out of the sample, Nearly 40% are working jobs within blue-collar industries and 72% of Americans reported having a household income of less than $60,000.

Forty-four percent of them believe their employer doesn’t care about their health; contrasting the mere 36% of respondents who make over $60,000 annually.

Affordability was found to be another major issue for respondents. When asked what maximum amount they could afford for an unexpected health or medical expense out-of-pocket, nearly half (48%) said they could only afford under $100.

And when asked how much they would be willing to spend extra per month for their health plan, 37% said they couldn’t afford any more than what they already pay, even if paying extra meant being offered more coverage.

Respondents also said they believe their primary healthcare plan should include dental (67%), vision (64%), hospital stays (59%), better prescription drug coverage (57%) and mental and behavioral health coverage (55%).

“Traditional health plans today cater more toward a certain working-class population, and many times, leave employees behind, especially those that work for small employers or within the blue-collar sector,” said Ari Rostowsky, Managing Partner, Tres Health. “But it’s important to know that other alternative forms of health insurance are out there that offer employers quality options for their employees at an affordable rate.”
The study found that when selecting a healthcare plan, people tend to prioritize the amount of money they’ll pay.

They look for plans that offer low/no co-pay (50%), low prescription costs (46%), low deductible costs (46%) and low premium costs (45%).

More than four in 10 (41%) admitted they’ve been in a position where they couldn’t afford a health expense, and 30% admitted to currently being in medical debt.

Of those in debt, the average person owes nearly $6,000 in medical expenses.

According to the Affordable Care Act (ACA), every employer must offer employees Minimum Essential Coverage and cover at least 60% of the cost of the plan.

Some employers offer Minimum Essential Coverage (MEC) plans or Minimum Value Plans (MVPs) that cover basic services. But it’s up to the employer how comprehensive they want these plans to be, and at what cost to the employee.

Of the respondents surveyed, the services below are the most valuable: physician services (60%), free preventive care (44%), lab services (44%), emergency services (41%), hospital-based services (37%) and telehealth (28%).

“Every health plan option should offer some form of basic and preventive care at a price employees are comfortable using,” explained Mike Feeney, Managing Partner, Tres Health. “If employees don’t feel comfortable using their plan, or they don’t understand them, the state of healthcare, and the cost of it, is only going to get worse for all of us as chronic conditions and comorbidities continue to spike. Your health plan should give you peace of mind — not take it away from you.”

Survey methodology:

Talker Research surveyed 2,000 general population Americans; the survey was commissioned by Tres Health and administered and conducted online by Talker Research between Oct. 10 and Oct. 14, 2024.

We are sourcing from a non-probability frame and the two main sources we use are:

● Traditional online access panels — where respondents opt-in to take part in online market research for an incentive
● Programmatic — where respondents are online and are given the option to take part in a survey to receive a virtual incentive usually related to the online activity they are engaging in

Those who did not fit the specified sample were terminated from the survey. As the survey is fielded, dynamic online sampling is used, adjusting targeting to achieve the quotas specified as part of the sampling plan.

Regardless of which sources a respondent came from, they were directed to an Online Survey, where the survey was conducted in English; a link to the questionnaire can be shared upon request. Respondents were awarded points for completing the survey. These points have a small cash-equivalent monetary value.

Cells are only reported on for analysis if they have a minimum of 80 respondents, and statistical significance is calculated at the 95% level. Data is not weighted, but quotas and other parameters are put in place to reach the desired sample.

Interviews are excluded from the final analysis if they failed quality-checking measures. This includes:

● Speeders: Respondents who complete the survey in a time that is quicker than one-third of the median length of interview are disqualified as speeders
● Open ends: All verbatim responses (full open-ended questions as well as other please specify options) are checked for inappropriate or irrelevant text
● Bots: Captcha is enabled on surveys, which allows the research team to identify and disqualify bots
● Duplicates: Survey software has “deduping” based on digital fingerprinting, which ensures nobody is allowed to take the survey more than once

It is worth noting that this survey was only available to individuals with internet access, and the results may not be generalizable to those without internet access.