Move over, HMOs. An Aon Hewitt study shows consumer-driven health plans have surpassed health maintenance organizations to become the second most common plan design offered by U.S. employers.
Preferred provider organizations, or PPOs, are still the most popular health plans offered by employers, as 79 percent of employers offered those plans in 2011.
Aon Hewitt's survey shows 58 percent of nearly 2,000 U.S. employers offered a CDHP in 2011, compared to 41 percent in 2010. Meanwhile, 38 percent offered an HMO in 2011 compared to 41 percent in 2010.
Consumer-directed plans are popular for employers because they are a way to address unsustainable increases in health care spending. Instead of shelling out more money for their employees each year, more of the risk and decisions fall on the workers.
“Employers are beginning to explore innovative solutions that focus on both the short-term need to manage health care costs and the longer-term requirement to change underlying behavior patterns, shifting the focus from 'caring for the sick' to 'actively managing the health of their employees,'” says Maureen Fay, senior vice president and head of Aon Hewitt's CDHP working group.
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