Michael Schumacher (207) 553-2131 michael.schumacher@willis.com
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What is a consumer-driven health plan and how can it reduce healthcare costs for your business and your employees?

A consumer-driven health plan has two components:

• A High Deductive Health Plan
• A Health Savings Account (HSA)

Consumer-driven healthcare plans have become popular with employees and employers as a method of controlling healthcare costs. It does this by empowering employees with tools and resources so they can make more cost effective and informed healthcare decisions.

These plans have emerged as employers were looking for new methods to control health insurance costs without sacrificing the healthcare quality available in traditional health plans.

Here's an example of how this can work:

Say an employee needs to have an MRI. Because they are involved in this plan, they are able to learn the costs associated with the MRI procedure. As a result, they compare costs on where to have this procedure done. At one facility, they find the MRI is $1,300 and at another facility the MRI is $1,500. All other things being equal, the employee is probably going to select the lower cost MRI, thus saving themselves and their employer money.

The savings in the premiums are then deposited into a tax-friendly health savings account that may grow tax-free for future medical expenses.

Consumer-driven healthcare plans can work well for both large and small employers. Please contact me if you would like to learn more about these plans to determine if one is right for your business.