Consumers Still Need Simple Ways to Manage Their Healthcare Dollars

For as far as the country has come in transitioning people from passive to active healthcare consumers, there is still much work to be done. Recent insights into the uptake of high deductible health plans (HDHPs) and consumer behavior surrounding health savings accounts (HSA) demonstrate a continued need to help U.S. consumers manage their healthcare dollars. Brokers, health plans, financial institutions, and TPAs can use technology to drive continued change.

But before we show you how technology can help further the healthcare consumerism agenda, let’s look at the reasons why it’s so important to arm consumers with the right tools.

Out-of-Pocket Costs Are Still Rising

Based on its annual survey of employer health benefits coverage, the Kaiser Family Foundation reports that the average annual out-of-pocket costs per employee rose almost 230% between 2006 and 2015. What’s more, results from a TransUnion healthcare survey show that:

• 9% of consumers say the rising costs of health insurance have already added a financial strain to their budget.

• 65% are more concerned about their out-of-pocket costs for co-pays and deductibles.

Consumer-Driven Health Plans Are Still Building Momentum

It’s no wonder that employers and workers are turning to HDHPs as a more affordable coverage option. While more popular among larger employers, companies of all sizes are now offering their employees at least one HDHP plan option. According to the Kaiser Family Foundation’s 2015 Employer Health Benefits Survey, 20% of firms offering health benefits offer an HSA-qualified HDHP, and enrollment in HDHPs with a savings option has increased over time from 13% of covered workers in 2010 to 24% in 2015.

Consumer Understanding of HSAs Still Lacking

It’s clear that more people are coming to appreciate the lower premiums afforded by HDHPs, yet not everyone offsets their out of pocket costs with a tax-advantaged HSA. Even if they have an HSA and an employer makes an annual contribution, many HDHP participants are leaving money on the table that could help them pay for medical expenses today and in the future.

Acclaris, a Towers Watson company and leading SaaS technology and services provider for consumer-directed accounts, issued a Consumer Education Survey Report revealing that awareness isn’t the main issue. Rather, 62% of benefit administrators, financial consultants and other industry experts cited lack of education as the real culprit behind their customers’ confusion surrounding health savings and reimbursement accounts.

Supporting Consumers with Technology

The key is making it easy for people to make the right choices and manage their healthcare dollars wisely. And this can start with the brokers, health plans and financial institutions administering defined contribution arrangements. When setting up benefits for your clients, you need to ensure they have a user-friendly experience from end-to-end so they can focus on providing their employees (members, clients, etc.) with adequate education, decision-support, and service.

Today, that means providing them with intuitive online resources, mobile tools, crunchable data, and information that can be shared over multiple communications channels. It means giving your clients—and their customers—visibility into their accounts and enabling them to manage their funds.

See these posts from the Healthcare Trends Institute for more insights:

Benefit Platforms Provide Many Advantages for Employees and Employers and HSAs and HRAs Lead The Way In Healthcare Savings

No one in the healthcare system has solved the “problem” of rising healthcare costs—it’s really a matter of helping people deal with them. People need to receive care and providers (along with every other player in the ecosystem) need to be compensated for their services, so the idea is that a more empowered, informed consumer can make healthcare and related pocketbook decisions that maximize their budgets.