Consumer-Driven Health Plans: New Developments and the Long Road Ahead
Lots Of Promise But Also Some Serious Problems
By Richard M. Scheffler and Mistique C. Felton
Richard Scheffler is the Director, Nicholas C. Petris Center of Health Care Markets and Consumer Welfare, and Distinguished Professor of Health Economics and Public Policy at University of California, Berkeley. He is director of the new Mental Health Economics Training Program funded by the National Institute of Mental Health; founding director of the Scholars in Health Policy Research Program funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation; and co-director of the Health Services and Health Policy Research Training Program funded by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. His research is on health care markets, health insurance, the health work force, mental health economics, social capital and health, pharmacoeconomics, and international health systems. He holds a Ph.D. in economics from New York University
Mistique Felton holds a Master of Public Health degree from the University of Michigan’s School of Public Health, Department of Health Management and Policy, and received her undergraduate degree from University of California, Berkeley. She is a research associate at the Nicholas C. Petris Center of Health Care Markets and Consumer Welfare.
The continued rise in U.S. healthcare spending, along with growth in the number of uninsured, has spurred the move toward consumer-driven health plans. We review new legislation covering such plans, analyze their penetration in the marketplace, and predict their growth. We also use current information about plans that are compatible with Health Savings Accounts to compare them to traditional Preferred Provider Organization plans. Next, we discuss some concerns about the impact of these plans on vulnerable populations, such as the poor and sick. Finally, we suggest how consumer-driven health plans may help to improve the functioning of the healthcare market, especially by producing more transparent information on cost and quality.
By Richard M. Scheffler and Mistique C. Felton
Mistique Felton holds a Master of Public Health degree from the University of Michigan’s School of Public Health, Department of Health Management and Policy, and received her undergraduate degree from University of California, Berkeley. She is a research associate at the Nicholas C. Petris Center of Health Care Markets and Consumer Welfare.