EBRI Finds 9% of Health Plan Members in High-Deductible Heck

The organizers of the first health account programs emphasized that the programs would promote consumerism, in part by giving enrollees more information they could use to compare the cost and quality of health care providers.

Today, health account plan enrollees were more likely than enrollees in traditional plans to say they have been asked to fill out a health risk assessment, but enrollees in all types of high-deductible plans, including health account plans, “were less likely than traditional plan enrollees to report that the plan provided cost or quality information,” Fronstin says.

Enrollees in health account plans, high-deductible plans without health accounts, and traditional plans were equally likely to report using any cost or quality information that was available, but Fronstin found that the health account plan and high-deductible plan enrollees were more likely than traditional plan enrollees to take steps such as checking to see whether doctors are in network or asking for generic alternatives to name-brand drugs.

Traditional plan enrollees were more likely to say they would participate in a wellness program if they were required to do so to enrolled in a preferred health plan or get a $50 cash incentive.

Enrollees in health account plans and high-deductible plans were most likely to say they would participate in a wellness program to avoid an increase in premiums aimed at non-participants or to collect a $250 cash incentive.