In 2001, a handful of employers started offering health reimbursement arrangements (HRAs) - a then-new type of health plan. The most prevalent HRA plan design had a deductible of at least $1,000 for employee-only coverage and a tax-preferred account that workers and their families can use to pay their out-of-pocket health care expenses. In 2003, the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act included a provision to allow individuals with certain high-deductible health plans to contribute to a health savings account (HSA). HRAs and HSA-eligible plans are collectively known as consumer-driven health plans (CDHPs). In 2010, 16 percent of smaller employers and one-half of the largest employers offered a CDHP. As a result, about 21 million individuals with private insurance, representing about 12 percent of the market, were in a CDHP in 2010. This paper examines the population with a CDHP and how it differs from the population with traditional health coverage. Data from the 2005-2007 EBRI/Commonwealth Fund Consumerism in Health Care Survey and the 2008-2010 EBRI/MGA Consumer Engagement in Health Care Survey are used for the analysis. While it is very difficult to generalize the differences in characteristics among CDHP enrollees, high-deductible health plan (HDHP) enrollees, and individuals with traditional coverage, a few differences stand out. The CDHP and HDHP populations were less likely to be young (ages 21-34) than the population with traditional coverage. However, in 2010, both the CDHP and HDHP populations were more likely to be ages 35-44. There were no differences in the portion ages 45-54 and no recent differences in those ages 55-64. CDHP enrollees have higher income than traditional plan enrollees, but the degree to which they have higher income has been falling. CDHP and HDHP enrollees have consistently reported higher education levels than traditional plan enrollees. CDHP enrollees have consistently reported better health status than traditional plan enrollees and exhibited better health behavior than traditional plan enrollees with respect to smoking, exercise, and, recently, obesity rates. It cannot be determined from the survey whether plan design had an impact on health status, smoking, exercise, or obesity rates. The PDF for the above title, published in the May 2011 issue of EBRI Notes, also contains the fulltext of another May 2011 EBRI Notes article abstracted on SSRN: "IRA Asset Allocation."
