This paper examines whether offering a health savings account (HSA)-eligible health plan for free, alongside other health plan options with a premium, alters employee enrollment choices; and if responders differ by health status. The data for this study come from two large employers and cover...

This paper examines the experience of a particular large employer, and a subset of its employees, with respect to a recent increase in the number of health plans that employees could choose. In 2014, this employer offered employees a choice of four health plans -- an HSA-eligible health plan...

The new Medicare drug law that was enacted in late 2003 makes two changes that supporters of the law say should make it easier for today's workers to prepare to pay the medical bills they will confront in retirement: prescription drug benefits (the new Medicare Part D) and health savings...

The problem of how to pay the increasingly costly medical bills of retired Americans is rapidly rising as a national priority, not just among policymakers, but also among the general public. As a result, deeper thinking within the health policy community on two broad issues is taking place: How...

This paper examines satisfaction with various aspects of health care by type of health plan among three groups of health-plan enrollees: those with a consumer-driven health plan (CDHP), those with a high-deductible health plan (HDHP), and those with traditional coverage. The findings presented...

Access Health, a Michigan-based “three-share plan,” is viewed as a successful community-based approach to expanding health benefits in the workplace. It was the stimulus for recently proposed legislation to federally fund similar plans nationally. The program evolved with the support of the...

This paper presents findings from the 2011 EBRI/MGA Consumer Engagement in Health Care Survey. This study is based on an online survey of 4,703 privately insured adults ages 21-64 to provide nationally representative data regarding the growth of consumer-driven health plans (CDHPs) and...

This paper examines the savings needed to cover health insurance premiums and out-of-pocket expenses for health care services in retirement and evaluates the use of health savings accounts (HSAs) to save for those expenses. Proponents of HSAs often tout them as a vehicle for funding future...