Is Health Insurance Still Sexy in the Age of Obamacare? eHealth Survey Says: Yes... Sort Of

MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA -- (Marketwired) -- 06/23/14 -- Today eHealth, Inc. (NASDAQ: EHTH) (eHealthInsurance.com), the nation's first and largest private online health insurance exchange, released results from a survey exploring young adults' attitudes toward health insurance, the Affordable Care Act (ACA or Obamacare) and the impact that health coverage has on their lifestyle and choices.

The survey was conducted in April and May 2014 and responses were collected from 220 young adults age 18 to 25 who purchased coverage through eHealthInsurance.com during the ACA's first nationwide open enrollment period. eHealth compared the results of this recent survey of eHealth customers with results from eHealth online surveys of recent college graduates conducted by Kelton Research in 2011 and 2012.

eHealth's analysis revealed certain changes in attitude over the past few years.

Additional highlights from eHealth's survey of young adult policy holders are provided below.

Young Adult Lifestyle Choices Resulting From Having Health Insurance

Odd, pork-related dishes do not become more attractive if a person has health insurance - When asked which of the "Weirdest Regional Foods in America" (according to Food & Wine magazine) would be more appealing if a person had health insurance, respondents overwhelmingly favored dishes that did not include pork.

Pickled pigs feet, chitlins, geotta and scrapple (all made from pork) polled poorly, below 7%, putting them on par with fried rattlesnake. The Hawaiian favorite, loco moco, was the clear leader earning 28% of the vote; deep fried cheese curds were a distant second, gaining 19% of the vote; Louisiana's own turducken took the third spot with 13% of young adults saying they'd be more likely to try a slice now that they're insured.

1. Loco moco, Hawaii: 28%
2. Deep-fried cheese curds, Upper Midwest: 19%
3. Turducken, Louisiana: 13%
4. Reindeer hot dogs, Alaska: 9%
5. Geoduck, Pacific Northwest: 8%
6. Fried diamondback rattlesnake, Texas: 6%
7. Chitlins, The South: 6%
8. Scrapple, Pennsylvania: 6%
9. Pickled pigs feet, The South: (3%)
10. Goetta, Cincinnati: 3%

Cheaters love deep dish pizza, more than BBQ meats and ice cream - When asked what foods they'd be most tempted to eat if no one was watching, millennials in the survey were overwhelmingly drawn to deep dish pizza (22%), followed closely by barbecued meats (21%) and ice cream (21%). Hamburgers (19%) and sushi (12%) rounded out the top 5, with hummus and baby carrots (6%) coming in a distant sixth, and flax seeds and dehydrated strawberries (0%) failing to garner a single vote.

eHealth Survey Demographics

• Almost half (49%) of survey respondents report that they are currently working full time, while 18% say that they are working part-time; one-quarter (25%) indicate that they are currently in school; only 5% report being unemployed.
• Nearly two-thirds of respondents (65%) indicate that they are currently in college or graduated from college within the past two years.

eHealth Survey Methodology
The results and analysis above are based on an eHealth customer survey conducted between April 24, 2014 and May 23, 2014. Participation was purely voluntary and a total of 220 responses were collected from health insurance policy holders between the ages of 18 and 25 who had purchased their health insurance plan through eHealth. Survey results expressed in percentages have been rounded to the nearest full percentage point and may add up to slightly more or less than 100.

About eHealth
eHealth, Inc. (NASDAQ: EHTH) operates eHealthInsurance.com, the Nation's first and largest private health insurance exchange where individuals, families and small businesses can compare health insurance products from leading insurers side by side and purchase and enroll in coverage online. eHealthInsurance offers thousands of individual, family and small business health plans underwritten by more than 200 of the nation's leading health insurance companies. eHealthInsurance is licensed to sell health insurance in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. eHealth, Inc. also provides powerful online and pharmacy-based tools to help Medicare beneficiaries navigate Medicare health insurance options, choose the right plan and enroll in select plans online through PlanPrescriber.com (www.planprescriber.com) and eHealthMedicare.com (www.eHealthMedicare.com).

For more health insurance news and information, visit the eHealth consumer blog: Get Smart - Get Covered or visit eHealth's Affordable Care Act Resource Center at www.eHealth.com/affordable-care-act.

For media inquiries, please contact:

Sande Drew
eHealth, Inc.
(916) 207-7674
sande.drew@ehealth.com

Brian Mast
eHealth, Inc.
(650) 210-3149
brian.mast@ehealth.com

Source: eHealth, Inc.