Since inception, the consumer-driven health care (CDH) movement has steadily gainedmomentum, as evidenced by the rate at which employers offer CDHplans and the volume of assets that are invested in tax-advantagedaccounts like health savings accounts (HSAs), flexible spendingaccounts (FSAs) and health reimbursement arrangements (HRAs). Butalthough all indicators trend up, growth has not kept pace withrapidly shifting market forces that threaten the future of CDH.
According to Mercer, while more than 60 percent of employerscurrently offer consumer-driven health plans (CDHPs), onlyone-third of employees are enrolled in them. Meanwhile, theNational Business Group on Health's 2018 Large Employers' HealthCare Strategy and Plan Design Survey predicts that by 2020, 97percent of large employers will offer CDHPs, with an increasingnumber offering those plans as the only option for employees.Clearly, consumer adoption of these plans and the need to managefuture health care spending and saving must occur at a more rapidpace.
Consumer-driven health care is underpenetrated in the market dueto a combination of dismal consumer engagement, low enrollment, andpoor broker and employer focus. But we can fix these threats ifemployers and brokers work together to deliver winningconsumer-driven health care strategies.
Turn threats into opportunities
Before we can discuss solutions, we must take a look at theconditions that have led to the current state of CDH: poor plandesign and the inability to properly communicate the valueproposition have created confusion and apathy about health carespending and saving among consumers. If left unchecked, theoriginal mission of CDH — to empower consumers with greater accessto information and number of choices, leading to smarter healthcare saving and spending decisions and ultimately, better healthoutcomes and lower system-wide costs — will fail.
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