Annual Survey Finds Enrollment in Consumer-Directed Health Plans Jumps 22 Percent Despite Increase in Plan Costs
Among employer-sponsored health insurance plans, consumer-directed health plans (CDHPs) continue to increase in popularity even though they are offering less savings than a year ago, according to the 2016
Conversely, CDHP plan costs have risen 2 percent from last year, according to UBA. So while they are still 3.5 percent less costly than the average plan, they offered more savings in 2015 when they were 5.6 percent less than the average plan.
"CDHP interest among employers isn't surprising given these plans' savings over the average plan," says
The UBA survey finds that 25.7 percent of plans offered by employers are CDHPs, a 14.2 percent increase in the last five years. Regionally, however, there are major differences in CDHP popularity.
UBA's survey finds CDHPs account for the following percentage of plans offered by employers:
NORTHEAST 34.4%
NORTH CENTRAL 32.5%
SOUTHEAST 26.6%
CENTRAL 21.0%
WEST 14.2%
CDHPs have increased in prevalence in all regions except the West, which saw the number of these plans decrease by 7.2 percent from 2015. Despite this decrease in the number of CDHPs offered in the West, there was an 18.9 percent increase in the number of employees enrolled, indicating the continued attraction to the lower premiums of such plans.
While most of the country is experiencing slightly increased premiums,
"Cost-saving strategies, like cost shifting, should be taken with a grain of salt, given the increased burdens they place on employees," says McPhearson. "Given the higher than average out-of-pocket costs of CDHPs, this turbulence in the West (who typically leads the nation in health care trends) indicates that employers and employees are still determining the value and success of these plans, making it a cautious upward trend to watch."
UBA's 2016
ABOUT THE 2016 UBA HEALTH PLAN SURVEY
The 2016
ABOUT UNITED BENEFIT ADVISORS
United Benefit Advisors® (UBA) is the nation's leading independent employee benefits advisory organization with more than 200 offices throughout
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