Table 1.

Participant Comprehension of Health Insurance Concepts

Concept	Question	% Answering Correctly
Monthly premium	For Plan B, how much will you have to pay each month just to be enrolled in an insurance plan?  [Free Response—Answer: $149 (monthly premium)]	81.6%
Deductible	Imagine that you are covered under Plan A. One day, you break your foot, so the total hospital bill for your medical care is $2,000. You have otherwise been very healthy, so you have not used any other medical services until now.  Not including your premium, how much will you have to pay out of pocket for this medical care under Plan A?  Free Response—Answer: $2,000 (under the $6,850 deductible)]	68.4
Out-of-pocket maximum	Imagine that you are covered under Plan E. You recently had to undergo major surgery and stayed in the hospital for a few days, so the total hospital bill for your medical care was $200,000.  Not including your premium, how much will you have to pay out of pocket for this medical care under Plan E?  [Free Response—Answer: $2,500 (out-of-pocket maximum)]	64.5
Estimated total yearly cost
Apply concept	Based on your “Low/Medium/High” expected medical use, how much will you expect to pay under Plan A for your medical care for the year?  [Free Response—Answer: $8,016 (estimated total yearly cost)]	76.3
Identify lowest cost plan	Based on your “Low/Medium/High” expected medical use, which plan will cost you the least—Plan A, Plan B, or Plan E?  [Multiple Choice – Answer: Plan E, with $6,156 as lowest dollar amount for estimated total yearly cost]	82.9
Identify highest cost plan	Based on your “Low/Medium/High” expected medical use, which plan will cost you the most—Plan A, Plan B, or Plan E?  [Multiple Choice—Answer: Plan B, with $8,652 as highest dollar amount for estimated total yearly cost]	81.6
Average comprehension score (% correct of six questions)		75.9