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...

Consumer-directed health plans (CDHPs) are designed to make employees more cost- and health-conscious by exposing them more directly to the costs of their care, which should lower demand for care and, in turn, control premium growth. These features have made consumer-directed plans increasingly...

This paper examines whether there is variation by worker income on how an HSA-eligible health plan affects health care services use and spending. Does the typically flat-dollar gap between a health plan's deductible and the employer contribution to a health savings account (HSA) have a bigger...

This paper reports experience over five years from a single large employer in the Midwestern United States that adopted a high-deductible health plan with a health savings account (HSA) for all employees. This study represents one of the longest observation periods reported with a...

This paper reports use of health care services related to health care quality over five years among over 18,000 individuals from a single large employer in the Midwestern United States that adopted an HSA-eligible health plan for all employees. It represents one of the longest observation...

The body of research on how consumer-directed health plans (CDHPs) affect the use and costs of health care services -- while still relatively small -- is growing. In recent work, the Employee Benefit Research Institute has examined these relationships using panel data from a large employer that...

As of 2012, 7 percent of employers did not cover spouses when other coverage was available to them; and 4 percent of employers with 1,000 or more employees reported not providing such spousal coverage. As of late 2012-early 2013, another 8 percent of large employers were reporting that they...