High-deductible health plans are increasinglybeing offered by employers in four different business sectors, andthose employers are adopting a range of strategies — includingpaying a larger share of premiums — in attempts to get employees tochoose them. But employees aren’t necessarily convinced.

That’s according to the most recent report from Benefitfocus,Inc., which finds that in the education, manufacturing, health careand retail industries, the adoption of HDHPs was on the increase,with employers using a range of strategies to encourage employeesto adopt them.

While employees worry about the higher out-of-pocket costs associated withHDHPs, lower premiums do attract some. And in 2017, the reportsays, employers are not only making efforts to make HDHPs moreattractive to employees, but are doing the same with health savingsaccounts.

Across all large employers, HDHP offerings rose by 8 percent. Inthe education field, however, there was a 100 percent increase inthe number of employers offering HDHPs — from 22 percent in 2016 to44 percent this year. The plans weren’t all that popular withemployees, however, who predominantly chose HMOs — accounting for37 percent of workers’ selections — despite the fact that averageemployee premiums for HMOs increased by as much as 45 percent.

This was despite the fact employers took on a greater share ofthe total premium so that the average employee-paid HDHP premiumfor family coverage in the education industry fell 16 percent yearover year. The report says that in contrast, the averageemployee-paid premium for all employees on the Benefitfocusplatform for HDHPs rose by 12 percent.

In health care, 51 percent of employers added thechoice of an HDHP to the menu of more traditional plans; that wasup from 37 percent last year. In addition, employee-paid premiumsfor individual-coverage HDHPs and PPOs saw substantial increases of19 and 17 percent, respectively.

Manufacturing firms were the most aggressive adopters of HDHPs,with 61 percent of respondent firms offering them; manufacturersoccupied a similar position in 2016. And they’re paying for theprivilege, with their share of premiums rising by 11 percent;employee-paid premiums for individual-coverage HDHPs, on the otherhand, dropped by 9 percent. Employers in manufacturing alsoincreased their contributions to family-coverage HSAs by 22percent.

Employee adoption of HDHPs was higher in retail, where it roseby 30 percent over 2016. In addition, 39 percent of employees choseat least one of three income protection benefits (accident,critical illness and hospital indemnity insurance), and 11 percentelected all three — year-over-year increases of 77 and 1,000percent, respectively.

The retail industry, according to the report, also hadhigher-than-average growth in employee contributions to HSAs, withretail employees contributing 6 percent more to individual-coverageHSAs and 9 percent more to family-coverage HSAs year over year.