Consumer-directed health plans reduce the long-term use of outpatient physician visits and prescription drugs Article

Fronstin, P, Sepúlveda, MJ, Christopher Roebuck, M. (2013). Consumer-directed health plans reduce the long-term use of outpatient physician visits and prescription drugs . HEALTH AFFAIRS, 32(6), 1126-1134. 10.1377/hlthaff.2012.0493

cited authors

  • Fronstin, P; Sepúlveda, MJ; Christopher Roebuck, M

authors

abstract

  • Consumer-directed health plans (CDHPs) are designed to make employees more cost- andhealth-conscious by exposing them more directly to the costs of their care, which should lower demand for care and, in turn, control premium growth. These features have made consumer-directed plans increasingly attractive to employers. We explored effects of consumer-directed health plans on health care and preventive care use, using data from two large employers-one that adopted a CDHP in 2007 and another with no CDHP. Our study had mixed results relative to expectations. After four years under the CDHP, there were 0.26 fewer physician office visits per enrollee per year and 0.85 fewer prescriptions filled, but there were 0.018 more emergency department visits. Also, the likelihood of receiving recommended cancer screenings was lower under the CDHP after one year and, even after recoveringsomewhat, still lower than baseline at the study's conclusion. If CDHPs succeed in getting people to make more cost-sensitive decisions, plan sponsors will have to design plans to incentivize primary care and prevention and educate members about what the plan covers. © 2013 Project HOPE-The People-to-People Health Foundation, Inc.

publication date

  • June 1, 2013

published in

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

start page

  • 1126

end page

  • 1134

volume

  • 32

issue

  • 6