A new study has found that consumers are slow to adopt consumer-directed health plans (CDHPs), though supporters claim interest will grow.
CDHPs are typically comprised of high-deductible health plans coupled with health savings accounts, or HSAs. The release Thursday of a study by the Center for Studying Health System Change found some stakeholders believe CDHPs will take hold as a way to contain healthcare costs by transferring more responsibility to beneficiaries. National surveys show CDHPs are being offered by a growing number of employers, with 5 percent of employees selecting these plans.
Paul Ginsburg, president of HSC, said there is plenty of "window shopping," but people are waiting to see how early adopters fare.
"In the past two years, health plans have expanded consumer-directed offerings in response to employer demands for products that support broader consumer strategies, where workers take more responsibility for healthcare costs, lifestyle choices and treatment decisions," said HSC Health Researcher Ann Tynan, coauthor of the study. "But so far large employers are hesitant to structure premiums to incorporate strong incentives to steer employees to these plans."
The study, funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, is based on site visits to Boston, Cleveland, Greenville, S.C., Indianapolis, Lansing, Mich., Little Rock, Ark., Miami, northern New Jersey, Orange County, Calif., Phoenix, Seattle and Syracuse, N.Y. HSC has been tracking changes in these markets since 1996.
Health plan officials believe offering CDHPs is essential to retaining market share, even though many employers still don't understand how health savings accounts tie into CDHPs, the study showed. Federal laws governing HSAs still confound some would-be enrollees, and consumers may have to shop for an HSA provider to administer the account if their employer does not contract with one.
Employers perceive the portability of HSAs as negative, especially in industries with high employee turnover. Smaller employers with high-wage professionals are more likely to offer HSAs because employees value the tax advantages. These employers also are more likely to contribute to employees' accounts, researchers found.
"CDHPs show the potential to capture more than one third of the commercially insured market by 2012," said Carl Doty, senior analyst at Forrester Research. A Forrester Research study released last fall said consumers are "confused, skeptical and dissatisfied" with their CDHP experience and need more education on personal healthcare finance solutions.