Loyal reader TrapierMichael (Trapper to his policy friends) questioned the source of a quote used in a post here earlier today attributed to the McKinsey study on CDHPs. Trapper could not find the quote in the article, but did locate it in another report, done by the folks at the Employment Benefits Research Institute, a well-respected industry group.
The EBRI study, entitled “Early Experience With High-Deductible and Consumer-Driven Health Plans: Findings From the EBRI/Commonwealth Fund Consumerism in Health Care Survey” was out in December of 2005; six months after the McKinsey report.
One of the key points in the original McKinsey document was this statement:
“it remains to be seen whether CDHP plans with HSAs inhibit the appropriate use of maintenance drugs and treatments for behavioral conditions…”
The EBRI study points directly to this issue, as Spike noted in his quote, albeit mis-cited. This is in conflict with the McKinsey study’s finding that “One striking finding was the increased likelihood of CDHP consumers with chronic diseases to report that they were taking greater responsibility for their health.” CDHP partipants were over 20% more likely to “carefully follow their treatment regimens.”
Of note, the companies implementing CDHPs that did not do so just to lower costs, but invested in employee education, communicated clearly, and provided access to data and information about lifestyle changes, had the most satisfied employees. The employer with the highest employee satisfaction even went so far as to start an employee fitness center, reward employees with cash for attainment of certain health goals, and extensively trained employees on the health plan itself as well as sources for health information.
The research methodology and cohort for each study was different, with EBRI using data from the Harris Interactive Study and McKinsey surveying individuals from specific employers with full-replacement CDHPs (where the old health plan was terminated and replaced in its entirety by CDHPs).
I’d like to get into more detail but I have to get some work done.
Compliments to Trapper for his research, and I’ll try to do a better job of vetting sources.
Feb
13
