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WellPoint finds health scheduling stress

By Allison Bell

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Even many Americans who could afford to pay for a little help with getting past health appointment scheduling barriers say scheduling is a problem.

WellPoint (NYSE:WLP) has published data on the issue in a summary of results from a recent telephone survey of 1,005 Americans ages 18 and older. The company conducted the survey to study what consumers are thinking about health and dental benefits. The company would like to see more customers buy more packages that include both health and dental coverage.

Company analysts found that 19 percent of all of the participants described managing their health care as “extremely stressful.” Even in the highest income category, for consumers with annual household income of $100,000 or higher, 9 percent said they hate managing their care.

The highest-income consumers were almost as likely as the low-income consumers to describe scheduling appointments as a major hassle. Twenty-six percent of the highest-income consumers said scheduling appointments is their most time-consuming task.

The highest-income consumers were also almost as likely as the low-income consumers to list figuring out costs and getting doctors to coordinate care as their most time-consuming health care management chores.

See also: Mass affluent market: Your ideal pool of prospects?