Confused man surrounded by question marks

Employers and brokers can do a much better job of educating employees about health benefits, a new study suggests. The report, "The Health Care Literacy Gap," was released by DirectPath, a company that provides employee benefits education to businesses and their workers.

The study said that too many employees simply don't know enough about the resources and information they can use to navigate their employer-provided health benefits. "There is a clear and concerning disconnect between the health care industry and the people it's supposed to serve," the report said.

For the report, DirectPath surveyed 1,050 people with employer-sponsored plans. "The results indicated that low health care literacy and inadequate health care education have negatively impacted how consumers choose and use their health plans," the report said.

Self-educated, unaware of vital resources

The study found that 40 percent of respondents say they taught themselves about health insurance terms and processes such as how to enroll or how to find an in-network provider. Employees often used online resources or other materials to find this information, and the report noted this leaves plan members open to being misinformed or getting information from a biased source. In addition, these kinds of online resources often don't know the details of an employer's specific offerings. "Self-education introduces the risk of encountering inaccurate and/or incomplete information and sources," the report said.

At the same time, the study noted a lack of one-on-one education provided to employees by health insurance experts—even when a company offers such services. The survey found that only one-third (33 percent) or respondents said they were aware of employers offering one-on-one conversation with company HR professionals, and only 21 percent of employees took advantage of such services.

In addition, 21 percent of respondents said their employers offered one-on-one conversations with benefits experts outside the company's HR department—and only 12 percent took advantage of this service.

Plan members could make smarter choices

The study found that some of the consumer choices made by employees are not optimal. For example, 41 percent of respondents said they "sometimes," "rarely," or "never" check to see if the provider or facility they are using is in-network with their plan. The report also found that a strong majority of respondents don't comparison shop—68 percent said they "sometimes," "rarely," or "never" compare treatment or service costs from different providers or pharmacies before making a care decision.

"Of those who say they 'never' compare treatment or service costs beforehand, 67 percent said they didn't know they could," the report said. "Consumers who did compare costs used a variety of resources and saw a range of savings."

The survey found that 17 percent of respondents said they saved $1,000 or more on a single service or treatment by comparing options, 14 percent said they saved between $500 and $999, 34 percent said they saved between $100 and $499, and 35 percent said they saved less than $100.

The study concluded by noting some relatively positive findings; prior to the current extraordinary circumstances around the COVID-19 outbreak, most employees said they received their care from a primary care provider, which experts say is a more cost-effective—and medically sound—practice than some other options. Of the other options, 22 percent said they visited an urgent care site, 5 percent used a retail clinic, 3 percent went to an emergency room, 2 percent said they didn't go anywhere, and 2 percent used a telemedicine service.

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