Account-based health plans have become an integral component of employer health plans and, in all likelihood, their role in health plans will increase in the near term.
Those are the high level takeaways from a survey conducted by health plan technology and services provider Acclaris that collected input from 650 health care professionals. Respondents included representatives of employers and of health plans, with divergent results emerging from the two groups.
Just over half of all respondents said their plans contain some type of ABHP, while 86 percent of health plan respondents said their plans included an ABHP.
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Nearly half the respondents described ABHPs as "extremely important" to plan design; 87 percent said they were either important or extremely important. More than six in 10 said demand for the products will increase in 2015.
The most popular offerings were flexible spending and health savings accounts, both found in 80 percent of plans, with 53 percent reporting they offer reimbursement programs.
While the bullish outlook took front and center in these results, reservations were expressed. For instance, when asked about the chief pain points around selling ABHPs to consumers, respondents listed "educating consumers (50 percent) and employers (30 percent) and managing data integration (35 percent)" as the top three. A quarter of those surveyed selected "adapting the right technology, servicing customers and compliance concerns" as major obstacles to adoption.
"Respondents who do not currently offer ABHPs are uncertain about future adoption — 55 percent noted they are 'unsure' if their organization has plans to adopt ABHPs in the next two years," the report said.
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Dan Cook
Dan Cook is a journalist and communications consultant based in Portland, OR. During his journalism career he has been a reporter and editor for a variety of media companies, including American Lawyer Media, BusinessWeek, Newhouse Newspapers, Knight-Ridder, Time Inc., and Reuters. He specializes in health care and insurance related coverage for BenefitsPRO.
