Consumer-driven health plan enrollment grows slower than in past

Consumer-driven health plans continue to grow--although enrollment is slower than in previous years. CDHPs grew at a rate of 18.1 percent this past year (about half that of 2009) but no longer cover more employees (12.4 percent) than health maintenance organizations (15.4 percent), reports the Daily Times.

The Northeast had the largest concentration of CDHPs (26.7 percent), followed by the Southeast region (22.9 percent). The average cost increase for all CDHPs at 7.3 percent was slightly lower than the average of all plan types, which increased 8 percent this year. The findings are based on preliminary results from the 2010 United Benefit Advisors Health Plan Survey, in which 17,113 plans from 11,413 employers reported.

"Employees are taking more control over health care expenditures by increasing participation in CDHPs, and they are also realizing that there are financial benefits--in addition to health benefits--of participating in wellness programs," Bill Stafford, UBA Vice President, Member Services, said in a statement. "In spite of passage of healthcare reform legislation, healthcare costs will continue to increase. There has been little coming out of Washington to date that addresses the underlying health care issues that can help control costs," he said.

Other key statistics from the survey include:

• PPO plans have nearly two-thirds of all enrolled employees (65.7 percent).
• The average employee contribution for plans with contributions for all plan types is $113 for single and $443 for family.
• Of all plans in the Northeast, 81.7 percent still have 100 percent coinsurance.
• 52.9 percent of all covered employees also elected to cover their dependents.

To learn more:
- read the Daily Times article
- read the PR Newswire story
- read the UBA survey press release

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