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According to William R Boyles, editor and publisher of The Consumer Driven Market, in 2009 "large employers began opting for CDH plans in droves." More than 10 million Americans are now covered by HSAs, Boyles noted, and more than 7 million are covered by HRAs. While HSAs have traditionally attracted their fastest growth in the small group and individual health plan markets, they are now gaining ground with all employee groups.
The reasons that momentum for CDH plans, and HSAs in particular, is expected to continue include:
• Lower premiums are "becoming a matter of survival" for many employers (premium costs are typically shared by employers and employees), and high-deductible plans have the lowest premiums.
• Employee resistance to higher deductibles is less than their opposition to higher monthly premiums.
• CDH accounts offer some “buy back” of cost-sharing by allowing employees to save and rollover unspent funds from year to year for future medical needs.
• Wellness incentives, such as cash rewards for achieving and maintaining health goals, are increasingly being integrated into CDH accounts. (The Senate Finance Committee's health reform bill would expand these incentives, increasing the limit on monetary rewards from 20 percent to 30 percent of the cost of an employee's coverage.)
-Stephen Miller, SHRM
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