Last-minute health plan shoppers may go too quickly for lower premiums without reviewing the full cost of their coverage, a study from eHealth suggests.
The company, which offers an online portal for the purchase of health insurance, studied data from its own customers. It looked at when a plan was purchased and the average cost of premiums and deductibles, using only customer data for non-subsidized plans.
What it found was that shoppers who bought their coverage online on the first day of open enrollment spent a bit more on premiums but tended to choose plans with lower deductibles. This would suggest that the early shoppers had done more research on the total cost of coverage than the last-minute buyers.
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Health plan providers and consultants have been urging consumers to more closely examine plans for such "hidden costs" as higher deductibles, co-pays and specialty prescription drug costs. It would appear that eHealth's early birds at the very least reviewed premiums and deductibles before making a purchase, whereas the late shoppers may not have done so.
Here are the specific findings on when coverage was purchased:
- Shoppers on the first day of open enrollment (Nov. 15, 2014) selected individual plans with an average monthly premium of $317 and an average annual deductible of $3,571, 12 percent higher and 10 percent lower, respectively, than shoppers on the final day of the first half of open enrollment (Dec. 31, 2014).
- Family plan shoppers on Nov. 15, 2014 selected plans with an average premium of $748 and an average annual deductible of $6,833, 1 percent higher and 14 percent lower, respectively, than family plan shoppers on Dec. 31, 2014.
Costs didn't rise much year over year for these customers, the data revealed. Looking at statistics from just the first half of the 2014 enrollment period and the first half of the 2013 period, eHealth found this comparison:
"During the first half of the current open enrollment period, monthly premiums averaged $304 for individuals and $751 for families who did not utilize government subsidies when selecting plans through eHealth. This represents a decrease of 2 percent for individuals and an increase of 3 percent for families compared to plans selected during the first half of the prior open enrollment period, from October 2013 through December 2013."
Deductibles rose a bit more year over year, 4 percent for individuals and 6 percent for family coverage.
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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.
