While nearly half of all US adults trust insurance companies, most find their language confusing

Paul HiebertData Journalist
July 18, 2017, 5:26 PM GMT+0

72% of consumers think the insurance industry uses wording that is difficult to understand

Now that the Senate Republican attempt to repeal Obamacare has stalled due to a lack of votes, the future of health insurance is surely on the minds of many Americans. But what about insurance companies themselves? What does the public think about them?

A new YouGov survey found that people have mixed feelings about insurance companies in general: While 47% of Americans trust them, 43% say the opposite. Divided into three age groups, only consumers aged 55 or older cross the 50% threshold in saying they trust insurance companies (53% to 42%).

At the same time, 50% of US adults respect insurance companies (38% don't). Additional data shows that Americans are slightly more likely to disagree than agree that, in general, insurance companies act in the best interest of their customers (49% disagree; 42% agree).

While members of the public are largely divided over the aforementioned attitudes toward insurance companies, they are unifed on this point: insurance companies tend to use confusing language that is difficult to understand. Indeed, 72% of consumers agree with this statement, while only 19% disagree. Divided by age, it seems older Americans are more likely to think insurance companies use confusing language than younger ones.