Consumers flunk health plan choice test

Average consumers have a hard time picking an affordable health plan.

When asked to pick the lowest-cost plan from a set of eight, ordinary people in one study came up with the right answer just 21 percent of the time.

Business grad students with above-average test scores had an easier time: They figured out the right answer 73 percent of the time.

Eric Johnson, a Columbia University marketing researcher, and four colleagues reported those conclusions in an article distributed by the University of Pennsylvania law school.

How well consumers pick health plans could become more important in October, when the exchanges open for enrollment, and the question remains important for researchers and policymakers looking at many consumers already enrolled in existing health plans, researchers said.