Consumer-driven healthcare may finally be getting traction

Dive Brief:

Consumer-driven health plans appear to be succeeding at teaching people to pay attention to their health costs and behavior, according to new research by the nonpartisan Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI).
According to the 2015 EBRI/Greenwald & Associates Consumer Engagement in Health Care Survey (CEHCS), adults in a consumer-driven health plan (CDHP) and a high-deductible health plan (HDHP) were more likely than those in a traditional plan to exhibit a number of cost-conscious behaviors.
The survey also found evidence that adults in a CDHP were more likely than those in a traditional plan to be engaged in their choice of health plan, and that CDHP enrollees were more likely than traditional-plan enrollees to take advantage of various wellness programs, such as health-risk assessments, health-promotion programs, as well as biometric screenings.

Dive Insight:

“Employers have been interested in bringing aspects of consumer engagement into health plans for many years, not just through greater cost-sharing but also through wellness programs,” said Paul Fronstin, director of EBRI’s Health Research and Education Program and author of the report. “Consumer-driven health plans appear to be having that effect.”

Consumer-driven health plans are a combination of health coverage with high deductibles (at least $1,300 for individual coverage in 2015) and tax-preferred savings or spending accounts that workers and their families can use to pay their out-of-pocket health care expenses. CDHPs first appeared in 2001. In 2015, the survey found 13% (26 million individuals) enrolled in a CDHP, 11% (about 22 million individuals) in a high-deductible health plan (HDHP) and 76% in traditional coverage.

The EBRI survey also found that those in a CDHP or HDHP were more likely than those with traditional coverage to say that they had checked whether the plan would cover care; asked for a generic drug instead of a brand name; talked to their doctors about prescription options and costs; asked a doctor to recommend a less costly drug; talked to their doctors about other treatment options and costs; developed a budget to manage health care expenses; and used an online cost-tracking tool provided by the health plan.