- Mark Dolliver

As push comes to shove in the fight over healthcare reform, health-insurance companies are again a popular target of political figures, including President Obama. However, The Economist/YouGov polling, conducted at the very end of February and beginning of March, suggests consumers who have health insurance aren't predisposed to regard insurers as villains.

One question asked respondents who have health insurance (from a private company or otherwise) to say how satisfied or dissatisfied they are with their own coverage. Thirty-seven percent described themselves as "very satisfied," with another 42 percent "somewhat satisfied." Fourteen percent said they're "somewhat dissatisfied" and 8 percent "very dissatisfied." (The total exceeds 100 percent due to rounding.)

There was no gender gap to speak of. But in a breakdown of the data by age group, the survey's 18-29-year-olds were markedly less likely than respondents in general to say they're "very satisfied" with their coverage, as just 24 percent voiced that opinion. Even in this cohort, tough, fewer than one in four rated themselves dissatisfied (15 percent "somewhat," 9 percent "very").

Though higher-income consumers can presumably afford better health insurance, the poll found an inverse correlation between income level and degree of satisfaction with one's own coverage. Twenty-seven percent of respondents in the $100,000-plus bracket said they're dissatisfied with their coverage, including 11 percent "very" dissatisfied. The figure was lower among the $40,000-100,000s (22 percent dissatisfied, including 8 percent "very"). And it was lower still among the under-$40,000s (19 percent dissatisfied, 6 percent "very").

There was a wide partisan gap in the way respondents rated their own health-insurance coverage. Among Democrats, 70 percent said they're satisfied (including 28 percent "very"), while 30 percent said they're dissatisfied (11 percent "very"). The survey's Republicans were considerably more positive about their coverage: 89 percent satisfied (60 percent "very") vs. 11 percent dissatisfied (5 percent "very"). True to form, independents split the difference, with 79 percent satisfied (33 percent "very") and 21 percent dissatisfied (6 percent "very").

Recent attacks on Big Insurance have focused on the specter of rate increases. As it happens, the poll's insured respondents are already accustomed to these (though not necessarily to ones as steep as those denounced in pro-reformers' recent speeches). Fifty-three percent said their premiums increased in the past year, including 18 percent who said they increased "a lot."

A partisan breakdown of the findings might lead you to believe that insurers are targeting their political tormentors with rate increases: Democrats were almost twice as likely as Republicans (21 percent vs. 11 percent) to say their premiums have increased a lot in the past year. Then again, the poll's independents were even more apt to say so (22 percent).