INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — More companies are offering workers a form of high-deductible insurance called a consumer-directed health plan as they struggle with rising costs and prepare for coverage expansions under the health care overhaul, according to a survey from the benefits consultant Mercer.
Mercer said it saw this year the biggest increase ever in the adoption of these plans by large companies. A total of 32 percent of all employers with 500 or more workers offer a consumer-directed health plan, or CDHP, compared with 23 percent last year.
CDHPs pair high-deductible insurance with a health savings account or employer-funded health reimbursement arrangement to help manage out-of-pocket costs. These plans take less from a worker's pay check for health insurance, but they also come with a deductible well in excess of $1,000 that must be paid before most coverage starts.
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Big companies typically offer these plans and other options for health insurance, but more are starting to switch to CDHPs as the lone choice for their workers, said Beth Umland, Mercer's director of research for health and benefits.
The percentage of companies with fewer than 500 employees that offer a CDHP climbed to 20 percent this year from 16 percent in 2010.
The number of employees enrolled in these plans is growing, too. Mercer's survey found 13 percent were enrolled this year, up from 10 percent in 2010 and 6 percent in 2007.
Companies first started offering CDHPs about six years ago, and cost is a big drawing point for them. The cost of a CDHP with a health savings account is nearly 20 percent lower, on average, than the cost of preferred provider organizations, the most common form of employer-sponsored coverage.
Employers are trying to slow cost growth ahead of overhaul coverage expansions that will start in 2014 and an excise tax scheduled to debut in 2018, Umland said.
The cost of health benefits — typically shared by the employer and employee — climbed 6.1 percent this year, a slower clip than 2010′s 6.9 percent. Mercer forecasts an even slower increase of 5.7 percent next year. Umland said she believes the growth in CDHPs, which prompt consumers to think more before they spend money on health care because they are more exposed to the cost, plays a role in the slower growth.
Mercer conducted its survey in late summer, and a total of 2,844 companies responded.
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