SURVEY: Voters Weigh-In On Healthcare During COVID-19 Pandemic

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., Sept. 14, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- As COVID-19 continues to wreak havoc across the country, a new healthinsurance.com national survey of 1,000 registered voters conducted by Scott Rasmussen found that public sentiment surrounding our nation's healthcare system is deteriorating. Whether it's concerns about the cost of care or insurance coverage, the survey results suggest many Americans are anxious about the state of healthcare.

U.S. HEALTHCARE & 2020 ELECTION:
Overall, the majority -- 60% -- of respondents rated the U.S. healthcare system as "poor" or "fair," compared to the 11% that rated it as "excellent." When asked about the fix, 69% say the key to improving the U.S. healthcare system is giving more control to patients and doctors. In fact, when it came to healthcare reform, more than 50% of respondents said it was a "very important" issue in the upcoming presidential election.

COVID-19 HEALTHCARE CONCERNS:
COVID-19 hasn't improved voters' thoughts about the U.S. healthcare system. According to survey results, one-third of respondents said their opinion of the U.S. healthcare system changed for the worse in the face of COVID-19. Only 14% said their opinion changed for the better. Similarly, one-third of respondents said they're afraid of contracting the virus because of healthcare costs.

Keeping one's current healthcare plan is a priority; 64% rate their own personal health insurance coverage as "excellent" or "good." 38% of employed respondents said they were reluctant to switch jobs and sacrifice their current health insurance. One-in-four say they or close family or friends have lost their health insurance during the pandemic.

TELEMEDICINE & WORKING FROM HOME IS TRENDING:
While overall sentiment surrounding the U.S. healthcare system may be down, the survey results suggest innovations including increased access to telemedicine and a shift to primarily working from home might have a positive impact on health and wellness.

When asked to weigh in on changes caused by social distancing requirements, 49% of employed respondents said that working from home was actually better for their overall health and wellness. In fact, 62% say the ability to work for home is now an important factor when considering or accepting a new job.

How patients use healthcare has shifted as well. The survey reveals a 115% increase in telemedicine usage since the start of the pandemic. Telemedicine visits offer advantages over in-person doctor visits, features like; avoiding crowded waiting rooms, convenience, last minute scheduling, and no waiting times where important features for a majority of those surveyed.

For more findings click here or for the entire survey results click here.

METHODOLOGY:
The survey of 1,000 Registered Voters was conducted by Scott Rasmussen using a mixed mode approach from September 4-8, 2020. Field work for the survey was conducted by RMG Research, Inc. Most respondents were contacted online or via text while 141 were contacted using automated phone polling techniques. Certain quotas were applied to the overall sample and lightly weighted by geography, gender, age, race, education, and political party to reasonably reflect the nation's population of Registered Voters. Other variables were reviewed to ensure that the final sample is representative of that population. Margin of Sampling Error: +/- 3.1 percentage points (for full sample).

ABOUT HEALTHINSURANCE.COM:
Healthinsurance.com combines the nation's leading health insurance carriers and advanced technology to offer a suite of private insurance solutions and Medicare plan options. In just a few clicks, our website provides consumers the ability to access powerful online comparison tools and educational resources that enable efficient self-guided navigation of available health insurance and Medicare options. For more information, visit www.healthinsurance.com.

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS:
Healthinsurance.com LLC is part of the Benefytt Technologies family companies (NASDAQ: BFYT). This press release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements are statements other than historical fact, and may include statements relating to goals, plans and projections regarding new markets, products, services, growth strategies, anticipated trends in our business and anticipated changes and developments in the United States health insurance system and laws. Forward-looking statements are based on our current assumptions, expectations and beliefs are generally identifiable by use of words "may," "might," "will," "should," "expects," "plans," "anticipates," "believes," "estimates," "predicts," "potential" or "continue," or similar expressions and involve significant risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results, developments and business decisions to differ materially from those contemplated by these statements. These risks and uncertainties include, among other things, our ability to maintain relationships and develop new relationships with health insurance carriers and distributors, our ability to retain our members, the demand for our products, the amount of commissions paid to us or changes in health insurance plan pricing practices, our ability to integrate our acquisitions, competition, changes and developments in the United States health insurance system and laws, and our ability to adapt to them, the ability to maintain and enhance our name recognition, difficulties arising from acquisitions or other strategic transactions, and our ability to build the necessary infrastructure and processes to maintain effective controls over financial reporting. These and other risk factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in our forward-looking statements are discussed in BFYT's most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) as well as other documents that may be filed by BFYT from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission, which are available at www.sec.gov. Any forward-looking statement made by us in this press release is based only on information currently available to us and speaks only as of the date on which it is made. You should not rely on any forward-looking statement as representing our views in the future. We undertake no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statement, whether written or oral, that may be made from time to time, whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise.

SOURCE healthinsurance.com

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