Ignagni: Setting the Record Straight on Consumer Directed Health Plans

(Washington, DC) – Recent studies on consumer directed health plans (CDHPs), including a new study released today by the Commonwealth Fund and the Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI), do not reflect all of the available data on the value of CDHPs in the health care marketplace. Karen Ignagni, President and CEO of America's Health Insurance Plans (AHIP), issued the following statement:

“Consumer directed health plans are providing consumers – some of whom were previously uninsured – with an affordable health care coverage option. Small businesses who did not previously offer coverage and uninsured consumers in the individual market now have affordable health care coverage thanks to the availability of high deductible plans combined with Health Savings Accounts (HSAs). An AHIP census of the entire HSA marketplace earlier this year found that 33 percent of small firms offering a HSA-eligible plan did not previously offer health insurance coverage to their workers and 37 percent of those purchasing coverage in the individual market were previously uninsured.

“Moreover, the CDHP marketplace is fast evolving to meet the needs of consumers. According to the annual KFF/HRET Employer Health Benefit Survey 2006, 82 percent of workers enrolled in HSA-eligible plans are in a plan that offers preventive benefits prior to any deductible. And authors of other research sponsored by the Commonwealth Fund in the July/August 2006 issue of Health Affairs concluded that HSA-eligible plans will not raise out-of-pocket costs for most users, and may, in fact, result in significantly lower out-of-pocket costs for many consumers with serious medical conditions as a direct result of the out-of-pocket maximums in the legislation that led to their creation in 2003.

“HSA and HRA products are a part of the suite of products now being made available to millions of Americans, allowing consumers to choose the product that best meets their health care coverage needs. Providing consumers with better information about the cost and quality of health care services will help them make cost-effective and quality conscious health care choices, which, in the long-term, will lead to improved health care quality and lower costs for all.

“We look forward to working with legislators and regulators at the federal and state level to ensure consumers have access to affordable, high quality health care coverage options.”