Consumer Driven Health Plans
As health insurance costs continue to increase, employers are likely to seek alternative ways to continue offering benefits to their employees versus not offering benefits at all.
Employee-consumerism began more than 20 years ago with the inception of 401(k) plans. Since then, these defined contribution plans have come to dominate the market, and have given the employee-consumers valuable experience in funding and managing their benefits.
Now, employee-consumerism is on the rise in the area of health care benefits. For employers, that will mean organizing and communicating the resources and information necessary to help educate and empower their workers. And for the workers it will mean a new willingness to be educated, shoulder the burdens of purchasing and administering their benefits.
There are many issues and concerns regarding this new employee-consumerism trend in health care benefits. The Office of the Healthcare Advocate will continue to keep employers and employees informed. We have outlined some terms and basic facts that will be helpful:
When trying to provide assistance to your employees, refer to the information below or have them contact the Office of the Healthcare Advocate, toll-free at 1 (866) HMO-4446.