Studies have shown that HSAs and other consumerism-focused benefit designs have been slow to catch
on with consumers. A survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation reports only 4 percent of covered workers
were enrolled in such plans in 2006. The main turnoff of consumer-directed health plan designs has been
the high deductibles generally associated with such plans. In order for consumer-directed health plans to
increase in popularity, the market will likely demand changes to increase the attractiveness. Without such
changes, the consumerism movement could grind to a halt.
This session will provide an overview of traditional plan design features of CDHPs and the successes and
failures of those plan design features. Future benefit design changes will then be discussed, including an
assessment of price impacts and market acceptance expectations. You'll leave with ideas for improving
the marketability of consumerism-focused plans.