We keep hearing about the rising popularity of consumer-driven health plans. A new Aon Hewitt survey finds CDHPs have surpassed HMOs to become the second most common plan design offered by U.S. employers.

Employees are willing to try CDHPs and their associated accounts—and will continue to choose them—because they often come with a lower premium. But, according to another survey of 3,000 employees and their dependents by Aon Hewitt, The Futures Company and the National Business Group on Health, employees find them challenging to understand and use. 

"Employees want to choose the most cost-effective plan with the least hassle, but they often have very full lives and are not all that interested in digging into the details of CDHPs, HSAs and HRAs," says Joann Hall Swenson, partner and health engagement best practice leader at Aon Hewitt. "Our research and experience tells us that simply giving employees lots of educational information about these plans and accounts is only helpful to the small minority of people who like all the details."