The Appeal Gap: How Few Americans Fight Benefit Denials (2023)

This chart highlights how rarely Americans appeal denied benefit claims across major coverage systems. Even when appeals are filed, success rates remain mixed, suggesting that complexity, time, and perceived futility discourage many workers from pursuing their rights under ERISA-style frameworks.

Fewer than 1% of denied ACA marketplace claims and only 10% of denied Medicare requests are ever appealed, showing how systemic barriers silence millions of potential ERISA claimants.
Chart: J. Price McNamara Source: KFFGet the dataCreated with Datawrapper