Consumer-driven health plans (CDHPs) in the U.S. have surpassed HMO plans in covered employees, according to preliminary results released by United Benefit Advisors (UBA) from its 2009 UBA Health Plan Survey, the nation's largest health plan benchmarking survey, with 17,655 plans from 12,316 employers reporting. CDHPs grew at a rate of 33.9 percent this past year and now cover more employees (15.4 percent) than HMO plans (13.6 percent), according to Bill Stafford, UBA vice president, member services. The Northeast region of the country had the largest concentration of CDHPs (23 percent), followed by the North Central region (20.1 percent). The average cost increase for all CDHPs at 6.3 percent was slightly lower than that of the average of all plan types, which increased 7.3 percent this year.
Employers often offset the higher out-of-pocket costs of CDHPs by offering employees a health reimbursement account (HRA) or a health savings account (HSA) and contributing funds. The 2009 UBA Health Plan Survey found the average employer contribution to an HRA was $1,310 (up from $1,209 in 2008) for a single employee and $2,502 for a family (up from $2,274 in 2008).
"Across the board, we're seeing a trend toward employee empowerment and participation when it comes to health care," said Stafford. "They're taking more control over health care expenditures by increasing participation in CDHPs, and they are also realizing that there are financial benefits -- in addition to health benefits -- of participating in wellness programs."
Other key statistics from this year's Survey results:- PPO plans have nearly two-thirds of all enrolled employees (63.9 percent).
- Fee-for-service plans are all but extinct, with only 0.4 percent of employees enrolled.
- The average monthly employee contribution for plans with contributions for all plan types is $105 for single and $419 for family.
- More than three fourths (78.4 percent) of all wellness plans offered a health risk assessment.
~September 2009 HRinsider Bulletin
For more information on the UBA Survey results, contact your Johnson & Dugan Account Executive.