MIllennials are happy with their health care decisions… for now

With millennials now outnumbering Baby Boomers in the workforce, many employers are honing their benefit offerings to appeal to the unique needs of this younger generation. Particularly when it comes to health care, their attitudes are quite different from generations before them, according to a recent Employee Benefit Research Institute webcast.

When it comes to medical decisions, millennials are more likely to rely on their own opinions or research than that of a doctor, according to findings from the 2017 EBRI/Greenwald & Associates Consumer Engagement survey. Likely because they also are of the opinion that their primary doctor does not have the expertise to deal with complex health issues.

Related: 3 ways millennials and Gen Z will put pressure on benefit costs

“It’s interesting that despite the fact that they have one and have some type of relationship, millennials are more likely to rely on themselves and question the expertise of their primary physician,” noted EBRI director of health research and education Paul Fronstin.

A further testament to their independent nature, millennials are also more open to non-traditional health care, such as walk-in clinics and telemedicine.

“There’s still this outstanding question about whether the millennial population will change as they get older and start to experience some of the health issues Gen X and boomers are experiencing,” cautioned Fronstin. That is to say, as millennials age and develop more complex health issues, they may find that their own expertise is somewhat lacking.

For now, however, EBRI’s engagement survey showed that millennials report more cost-conscious behaviors, such as seeking out and finding cost information, checking whether their plan covers a service before getting it, or talking to their doctor about prescription and procedure costs and alternatives.

Given these responses, it’s a surprise to learn that millennials don’t have a strong preference about the types of health plans their employer offers. When offered the choice between a consumer-driven health plan, traditional health plan and a narrow-network plan, 31 percent of millennials have no preference, compared to 22 percent of Boomers. Meanwhile, just 10 percent would be more interested in the CDHP, compared to 19 percent of Boomers.

Perhaps a significant factor in the deviation of millennial opinions is their frame of reference. Having been in charge of their own health and health care costs for less time, they have experienced less of the cost increases and curtailed insurance benefits as previous generations.

“We find that millennials are more satisfied with their out-of-pocket costs than other generations,” said Fronstin. “Millennials use less health care so they’re spending less and they’re more likely to only know a health plan with high out-of-pocket expenses.”

There is one area of health care costs that millennials aren’t quite so confident about: HSAs.

“We find that millennial and Gen X are more likely to be strongly or somewhat agree that they need help determining how much money to put in HSA,” Fronstin said, adding that millennials also express a greater interest in investing their HSA dollars, though their actions don’t match their words.

Relative newcomers to the workforce, millennials have less experience with HSAs and often less earning power, contributing to overall lower utilization. To really delve into different generations’ attitudes and behaviors in respect to HSAs, Fronstin pulled some statistics from EBRI’s HSA database, covering HSA use from 2005 to 2016.

“It doesn’t matter which age cohort we look at, the percentage investing is low–4 percent,” Fronstin said. “When you ask millennials about HSAs, they’re much more interested in investments, but they’re not more likely to invest.”

One reason for this, noted Fronstin, is that while HSAs may be called “the 401(k) of health care,” they don’t operate like a 401(k)–there is no advisor offering investment guidance.

As millennials’ earning power and familiarity with HSAs increases, the data suggests that they will increase utilization of and contributions to their HSAs. At present, however, even millennials who have had HSAs for a longer period of time are putting in less than their peers.

Thus, while millennials demonstrate some financial savviness when it comes to their health care decisions, they just aren’t at a point in their lives where health care is as much of a concern compared to their peers. As they age and shift their priorities, benefits will need to respond accordingly.

“To me, this suggests that there’s an opportunity to see what millennials really think and drive the health benefits being offered to them,” Fronstin said.