More than 4.5 million Americans own
a Health Savings Account (HSA) —
triple the number of just two years ago. One survey estimates that HSA enrollment will increase by 20 percent in the next
four years.
“More and more companies will be offering their employees a consumer-directed
health plan as one of the benefit choices,”
says Robert L. Dawson, president and chief
executive officer of HealthAmerica. “Yet,
for many employees, consumer-directed
health plans are a new and often confusing
idea in health coverage.”
Smart Business spoke to Robert L.
Dawson, president and chief executive
officer of HealthAmerica, about how
employers can help ease their workforce
into adopting — and embracing — consumer-directed health plans.
What are some issues employers face in
introducing consumer-directed health plans?
Consumer-directed health care options
involve a greater degree of cost sharing
with employees. These plans typically pair
a health plan with a high deductible (usually of more than $1,000 for single coverage) with a personal or health savings
account. Employees may not like the fact
that they have to pay a higher cost for coverage they used to get at little or no personal expense. In addition, employees may
not be sure what exactly this role as a
‘more active health care decision-maker’ is
all about. They may be confused and more
than a little resistant to change.
How do employers tackle these issues?
I can’t emphasize enough the need for
ongoing education and communication. An
informed and empowered workforce will
improve the odds that employees will
embrace this different type of health plan.
Therefore, it’s important that employers
take the time and effort to explain why
they are implementing such measures.
Employees may not like what they are
hearing, but they will appreciate the explanation about why it is necessary.
What should some of the messages be?
Begin by defining health care benefits within the broader context of business.
Employees need to understand that rising
health care costs will affect the company’s
ability to succeed. Let employees know
that, although their contributions toward
health care premiums are increasing, yours
are going up even more. Adopting a policy
of ongoing, honest communication can
help overcome skepticism, encourage
employees to be partners in controlling
costs and promote understanding of the
changes as a necessary business decision.
What else can employers do to help ensure
success?
Successful consumer-directed health
plans are supported from the top.
Therefore, employers themselves are a key
catalyst in driving employee participation.
Studies show that employers that contribute to their employees’ health savings
accounts achieve higher rates of employee
participation than those that don’t. Even if
it’s a one-time contribution, it’s better than
nothing.
In addition, the plan should be designed
to compete effectively with other health
plan options. Many employers are implementing consumer-directed plans as full
replacement for all coverage choices; others offer them alongside traditional managed care options.
What are some other tactics employers use
to help employees feel comfortable with
these plans?
Recognize that this type of plan design
represents change for employees — in
some cases, a significant change. The more
prepared they are for the change, the better. Begin a communications effort early,
and don’t worry about over-communicating.
Create special, but inexpensive, communication material just for this campaign:
employee bulletin boards, newsletters,
payroll stuffers, information sessions and
your intranet. You may also want to send
information to employees’ homes, where it
can be shared with a spouse. Encourage
two-way communication and invite questions one-on-one so employees can evaluate their own personal situation. It’s important that they understand all their costs and
responsibilities so they are not surprised or
discouraged after enrollment.
Emphasize and re-emphasize the connections between unhealthy lifestyle habits
(such as smoking and obesity) and the dramatic impact such habits can have on
health care costs. Reinforce the idea of
proactively tackling bad health habits now
to deter high medical costs later. The message can be as simple as ‘if you stay
healthy, you will preserve more money in
your HSA.’ Many health plans offer 100 percent coverage for the cost of approved
health education programs like smoking
cessation and weight loss — at no cost to
the employer.
Lastly, stress to employees that they are
not ‘on their own’ after they enroll. Make
your human resources staff available to
review information and answer questions.
Small companies can elicit the help from
their health plans. Health insurers, like
HealthAmerica, are committed to helping
our members feel comfortable with their
decision to choose consumer-directed
health care and to be smart users of health
care services. Our representatives are
trained to educate employees about the
process and the decision tools available to
them.
ROBERT L. DAWSON is president and CEO of HealthAmerica
and HealthAssurance. Reach him at (717) 540-6353.