Preferred provider organization plans continue to dominate the U.S. group health market, but health account plans may be gaining.
When United Benefit Advisors L.L.C., Indianapolis, a coalition of benefits advisory firms, conducted a survey of member firms’ client employers, it found that 54% of employer-sponsored group health plans are PPO plans, and that those plans cover 63% of the employees enrolled in employer-sponsored plans.
Health maintenance organization plans continue to account for 21% of the participating employers’ plans, but they enroll only 13% of the employees in the employers’ plans, UBA says.
The percentage of participating employers that offer plans incorporating health savings accounts or health reimbursement arrangements has increased to 13%, and the percentage of group health plan members enrolled in the health account plans has increased to 11%, from 6%, since 2007, UBA says.