While consumer-driven health plans (CDHPs) have been shown in the past to generate savings for employers and workers alike, the CDHP movement now might be losing some steam, according to a pair of industry studies.

CDHPs — high-deductible health plans (HDHPs) often paired with health savings accounts — made up 22.5 percent of all health care plans offered in the U.S. in 2012, according to the latest release from the UBA Health Plan Survey. That figure compares with 22.9 percent in 2011 — the first decline since 2007.

There’s no shortage of research that points to the positives of these types of plans. A recent study by the Kaiser Family Foundation found that HDHPs had average premiums of just under $5,000 for single coverage in 2012 — about 15 percent less than preferred provider organization (PPO) plans, according to a report in MarketWatch. Another report by the RAND Corp. noted that patients with CDHPs tended to see significantly lower overall medical costs and used fewer brand-name drugs.

Statistics like those — and a challenging economic outlook — have moved more employers to offer CDHPs, said Helen Darling, president of the National Business Group on Health, in the MarketWatch report.

“Now that there’s been this economic crunch and wages are flat, the increased costs of health care are harder to take,” Darling said.

Yet at the same time, employers are starting to see some downsides to consumer-based care, the RAND study notes. Patients with chronic conditions often see much higher out-of-pocket expenses than those without a chronic disease. The plans also may discourage employees from obtaining medical care, which can lead to bigger costs down the road.

“The concern is that [those enrolled in CDHPs are] forgoing care that they need,” said Amelia M. Haviland of the Carnegie Mellon University and co-author of the RAND study in MarketWatch.

CDHPs also aren’t achieving as much first-year savings for some employers. The 2012 UBA Health Plan Survey found that the savings created by CDHPs in their first year over the plans they were replacing averaged 1.75 percent in 2012, a significant reduction from prior years.

Still, the survey spotted a few bright spots for these types of plans. The negative trend of CDHPs renewing at higher rates compared with other plans did not repeat in 2012, and CDHPs continue to remain popular in particular regions of the U.S. — especially in the Northeast, where 27.8 percent of all plans were CDHPs.

(Photo credited to: healthatwork.com)

DISCLAIMER: Because of the generality of this update, and based on particular situations, the information provided herein may not be applicable in all situations and should not be acted upon without specific legal advice, financial advice and/or the advice of a licensed insurance or certified human resource professional.

© Connelly, Carlisle, Fields & Nichols 2012