While consumer-driven or high deductible health plans have increased dramatically in recent years, people who have them aren't necessarily very happy with them. Those who are covered by traditional plans are far more satisfied with their insurance than those who have one of the newer types of policies.
But a poll from the Employee Benefit Research Institute, conducted in 2014 but published last week, shows that the popularity gap between the two types of insurance has narrowed over the past decade, with more workers expressing satisfaction with newer types of plans.
While 61 percent of those enrolled in traditional plans said they were satisfied or extremely satisfied with their coverage, only 46 percent of CDHP enrollees said the same. Those covered by HDHPs were the least happy with their plans; only 37 percent expressed satisfaction with their policy.
Recommended For You
While results of the annual survey have fluctuated over the past eight years, there has been a marked increase in satisfaction since the first survey in 2006, when the satisfaction rates for CDHPs and HDHPs were 37 percent and 29 percent, respectively. However, the increase in satisfaction largely took place between 2006 and 2010. Since then the figures have remained relatively steady.
Predictably, the main problem enrollees have with CDHP and HDHPs is the cost. While 48 percent of traditional health plan policy holders were either "extremely" or "very" satisfied with their costs, only 19 percent of those enrolled in HDHPs and 26 percent of those with CDHPs were similarly delighted by theirs. Indeed, recent reports have suggested that most families don't have the money necessary to cover a high-deductible plan.
The good news for CDHPs, however, is that their enrollees report being just as happy with the quality of care as those enrolled in traditional plans. About two-thirds of those enrolled in both types of plan said they were either very or extremely satisfied with their care. But only 56 percent of those enrolled in HDHPs respond with the same level of happiness to their care.
© 2025 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
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.
