So, I'm taking a time out today. (Hope that's OK.)

While everyone else argues over last night's election results, the House bill, the GOP alternative and Meghan McCain's Twitter account, I think I'll take a step back today.

A new survey caught my eye this morning and I thought I'd share. It deals with the now-threatened consumer-driven health care market. You know, that entire segment of our industry that no one is D.C. seems to give a damn about.

According the big brains over at the Employee Benefit Research Institute, there seems to be a shift in the consumer-driven marketplace. Based on their numbers, among the 4 percent or so of covered Americans with these health plans, employer contributions are shifting, with workers with employee-only coverage watching their annual employer contributions drop, while those with family coverage enjoy increased annual employer contributions.

Overall, the survey reports, while the number of employees enrolled in these plans remains relatively small, the market is growing steadily, "with 4 percent of the adult population with private health insurance was enrolled in an HRA or had a high-deductible plan with an HSA, up 1 percentage point from the previous year. An additional 4.9 percent were eligible for an HSA but did not have such an account. Overall, 8.9 percent of adults with private insurance were either in a consumer-driven health plan or were in a high-deductible plan that was eligible for an HSA, but had not opened an account."

It's also worth noting that this market also enjoys growth in other areas, such as average rollover amounts, time spent in these plans and overall account balances.

So while those Beltway suits preach about evils of our industry and the ineptitude of the people we serve, I thought it might help if today, we let them know that we know better.

Instant Insights /

Don&#039;t take away consumer-driven options

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Don't take away consumer-driven options