Thursday, December 07, 2006

Tweet

[IWS] EBRI/CF CONSUMERISM IN HEALTH CARE SURVEY, 2006 [7 December 2006]

IWS Documented News Service
_______________________________
Institute for Workplace Studies----------------- Professor Samuel B. Bacharach
School of Industrial & Labor Relations
-------- Director, Institute for Workplace Studies
Cornell University
16 East 34th Street, 4th floor
---------------------- Stuart Basefsky
New York, NY 10016
-------------------------------Director, IWS News Bureau
________________________________________________________________________

Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI)

EBRI Issue Brief, No. 300, December 2006 [7 December 2006]

The 2nd Annual EBRI/Commonwealth Fund Consumerism in Health Care Survey, 2006:
Early Experience With High-Deductible and Consumer-Driven Health Plans
By Paul Fronstin, EBRI, and Sara R. Collins, The Commonwealth Fund
http://www.ebri.org/pdf/briefspdf/EBRI_IB_12-20061.pdf
[full-text, 48 pages]

Related Link

Chartpack of additional data from the survey
http://www.cmwf.org/usr_doc/EBRI_Commonwealth_consumerism_brief_chartpack_FINAL_AJG.pdf
[full-text 62 pages]

See EXECUTIVE SUMMARY at
http://www.ebri.org/publications/ib/index.cfm?fa=ibDisp&content_id=3769


Executive Summary

This report presents findings from the EBRI/Commonwealth Fund Consumerism in Health Care Survey, 2006, the second annual version of this survey. The online survey of 3,158 privately insured adults ages 21­64 was conducted to provide nationally representative data regarding the growth of consumer-directed health plans (CDHPs) and high-deductible health plans (HDHPs), and their impact on the behavior and attitudes of health care consumers.

• Enrollment: Enrollment in CDHPs and HDHPs is virtually unchanged from 2005. Only 1 percent of the privately insured population ages 21­64 are currently enrolled in CDHPs, representing 1.3 million individuals ages 21­64. Another 7 percent, representing 8.5 million individuals ages 21­64, were enrolled in plans with deductibles high enough to meet the threshold that would qualify to make tax-preferred contributions to a health savings account, but do not have such an account.

• Impact on the uninsured: The survey finds that adults in CDHPs are no more likely to have been uninsured prior to enrolling in their plans than are those in more comprehensive plans. Ten percent of CDHP enrollees were uninsured prior to being covered by their current plan, compared with 20 percent of HDHP enrollees and 24 percent of individuals with more comprehensive plans.

• Lower satisfaction: As in 2005, individuals in CDHPs and HDHPs continue to be less satisfied with various aspects of their health plan than individuals in more comprehensive health plans, are less satisfied overall with their health plan, and are less likely to recommend the plan to a friend or colleague.

• Preventive care not excluded from deductible: While the law that created HSAs allows people to have high-deductible health plans which cover the cost of preventive services (i.e., preventive services are excluded from the deductible), more than one-half of individuals in CDHPs are in plans with deductibles that apply to all health care services.

• More missed care: Individuals in CDHPs and HDHPs are more likely than those with comprehensive health insurance to report that they delayed or avoided needed care because of cost. Yet few differences were found among adults in the three plan types in reported use of health services and preventive care. In addition, people in CDHPs and HDHPs are about as likely as those with comprehensive coverage to follow treatment regimens for a set of chronic health conditions that the survey asked about.

• More cost-conscious behavior: Individuals in CDHPs and HDHPs exhibit more cost-conscious behavior in their health care decision-making than individuals with more comprehensive health insurance. However, in many questions that addressed this issue, those in more comprehensive plans were just as likely to report such behavior as adults in consumer-driven or high-deductible health plans.

• Availability of information: Despite the emphasis on informed choice surrounding consumer-driven health care, people in CDHPs and HDHPs were less likely to report that their health plans provided information on the cost and quality of providers than those in more comprehensive plans.




______________________________
This information is provided to subscribers, friends, faculty, students and alumni of the School of Industrial & Labor Relations (ILR). It is a service of the Institute for Workplace Studies (IWS) in New York City. Stuart Basefsky is responsible for the selection of the contents which is intended to keep researchers, companies, workers, and governments aware of the latest information related to ILR disciplines as it becomes available for the purposes of research, understanding and debate. The content does not reflect the opinions or positions of Cornell University, the School of Industrial & Labor Relations, or that of Mr. Basefsky and should not be construed as such. The service is unique in that it provides the original source documentation, via links, behind the news and research of the day. Use of the information provided is unrestricted. However, it is requested that users acknowledge that the information was found via the IWS Documented News Service.

****************************************
Stuart Basefsky                   
Director, IWS News Bureau                
Institute for Workplace Studies 
Cornell/ILR School                        
16 E. 34th Street, 4th Floor             
New York, NY 10016                        
                                   
Telephone: (607) 255-2703                
Fax: (607) 255-9641                       
E-mail: smb6@cornell.edu                  
****************************************






<< Home

This page is powered by Blogger. Isn't yours?