Researchers at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania interviewed a focus group of young adults to glean six suggestions for improving the Healthcare.gov website. The actionable improvements are discussed in an article being published in Annals of Internal Medicine.

Thirty-three highly educated young adults aged 19 to 30 years in Philadelphia were asked about their impressions and their suggestions for improvements as they navigated the Healthcare.gov website during the first open enrollment period for the Affordable Care Act's health insurance marketplace. The young people offered six specific changes to improve the customer experience before the next enrollment period in November 2014. Among their suggestions, they asked for a glossary of terms; better descriptions of services that are included in their policies; and explanations of financial details and discounts. The young people also suggested that the term "catastrophic" be replaced with a less negative or confusing word that better conveys the meaning of what is covered by catastrophic insurance.

According to the study authors, the young people's suggestions show how small changes to the Healthcare.gov website could improve consumers' understanding of a difficult process and also improve the usability of the website.