Do Different Economic Incentives in Theory Between CDHPs & Traditional Insurance Lead to Different Consumer Practices?

This research indicates that people with consumer-directed health plans (CDHP) who were predicted to spend less on health care utilization, tended to spend less than a comparison group with conventional cost sharing. The CDHP group had no cost sharing.

CDHP enrollees that were predicted to spend more on health care utilization that had no incentive to conserve on medical care utilization due to plan structure, and did in fact spend more than the comparison group.

This PowerPoint presentation describes the components of a "classic" CDHP and summarizes the results of previous studies about CDHP adoption and effect on health care utilization and costs:

• CDHPs were adopted by about five percent of employees when the plans were available
   
• Employees who selected a CDHP did not necessarily continue to favor that type of plan in either a health reimbursement account or a health savings account (HSA)
   
• CDHPs did have an effect on long-run cost and health care utilization; however, the effect was linked to the generosity of the plan. Less generous plans indicated a utilization reduction
   
• CDHPs in the form of HSAs may be a viable approach to reducing the number of uninsured individuals in the United States