Consumer-Directed Healthcare Showed Gain in 2011
Posted by J.P. Farley Corporation on Fri, Feb 03, 2012
Employers are becoming more aware of the benefits that consumer directed healthcare offers both them and their employees. While traditional private health insurance plans still dominate the market, a greater number of large and midsize employers have been exploring self-funded health plan options as a smart way to reduce and better manage company healthcare costs.
According to a survey conducted by the Employee Benefit Research Institute, 59% of Americans under the age of 65 were covered by employment-based health insurance in 2011. Enrollment in high-deductible healthcare plans, which are gaining traction among, rose to 16%, a jump of 2% over the previous year. In comparison, only 7% of workers were covered by high-deductible plans in 2006; however, by 2010 that number had doubled to 14%.
Consumer-driven healthcare plans also increased by 2% in 2011. The number of people enrolled in self-funded healthcare plans such as Health Savings Accounts (HSA) and Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA) grew to 7% in 2011.
Health Savings Accounts and Flexible Spending Accounts both shift control over more of the power to make healthcare decisions to the employee. Employees are not only given the opportunity to make their own healthcare decisions, they are in control of how they spend their healthcare funds. In its Consumer Engagement in Health Care Survey, the Employee Benefit Research Institute found that employees enrolled in consumer-directed healthcare plans were more likely than those with traditional coverage to exhibit a number of cost-conscious behaviors.