Elimination of the Out-of-Pocket Charge for Children's Primary Care Visits: An Application of Value-Based Insurance Design.

Objective: To evaluate the impact of a value-based insurance design for primary care among children.

Study Design: A retrospective analysis of health care claims data on 25 950 children (<18 years of age) was conducted. Individuals were enrolled in a large employer's health plans when zero out-of-pocket cost for primary care physician visits was implemented.

Financial Incentives, Workplace Wellness Program Participation, and Utilization of Health Care Services and Spending.

This paper analyzes data from a large employer that enhanced financial incentives to encourage participation in its workplace wellness programs. It examines, first, the effect of financial incentives on wellness program participation, and second, it estimates the impact of wellness program participation on utilization of health care services and spending. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 (PPACA) allows employers to provide financial incentives of as much as 30 percent of the total cost of coverage when tied to participation in a wellness program.

Medication utilization and adherence in a health savings account-eligible plan.

Objectives: To evaluate the impact of a consumerdirected health plan with a health savings account (CDHP-HSA) on utilization of and adherence to medications among individuals with chronic disease.

Study Design: Pre-post comparison study with matched control group (difference-in-differences analysis).

Methods: Data on workers and dependents with 1 or more of 5 chronic conditions--hypertension, dyslipidemia, diabetes, asthma/chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and depression--were obtained from an employer that fully replaced its preferred provider organizations (PPOs) with a CDHP-HSA in 2007.

Consumer-directed health plans reduce the long-term use of outpatient physician visits and prescription drugs.

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 attractive to employers. We explored effects of consumer-directed health plans on health care and preventive care use, using data from two large employers-one that adopted a CDHP in 2007 and another with no CDHP.

Findings from the 2012 EBRI/MGA Consumer Engagement in Health Care Survey.

The 2012 EBRI/MGA Consumer Engagement in Health Care Survey finds continued slow growth in consumer-driven health plans: 10 percent of the population was enrolled in a CDHP, up from 7 percent in 2011. Enrollment in HDHPs remained at 16 percent. Overall, 18.

Sources of health insurance and characteristics of the uninsured: analysis of the March 2012 Current Population Survey.

HEALTH COVERAGE RATE INCREASED, UNINSURED DOWN: The percentage of the nonelderly population (under age 65) with health insurance coverage increased to 82 percent in 2011, notable since increases in health insurance coverage have been recorded in only five years since 1994. EMPLOYMENT-BASED COVERAGE REMAINS DOMINANT SOURCE OF HEALTH COVERAGE, BUT CONTINUES TO ERODE: Employment-based health benefits remain the most common form of health coverage in the United States, though it represents a declining share. In 2011, 58.

Employment-based health benefits: recent trends and future outlook.

The employment-based health benefits system established its roots many years ago. It was during World War II that many more employers began to offer health benefits. Recently, however, both the percentage of workers with employment-based health benefits and the comprehensiveness of such coverage have been declining.

Private health insurance exchanges and defined contribution health plans: is it déjà vu all over again?

This issue brief examines issues related to private health insurance exchanges, possible structures of an exchange, funding, as well as the pros, cons, and uncertainties to employers of adopting them. A summary of recent surveys on employer attitudes are examined, as are some changes that employers have made to other benefits that might serve as historical precedents for a move to some type of defined contribution health benefits approach.

Findings from the 2011 EBRI/MGA Consumer Engagement in Health Care Survey.

SEVENTH ANNUAL SURVEY: This Issue Brief 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 high-deductible health plans (HDHPs), and the impact of these plans and consumer engagement more generally on the behavior and attitudes of adults with private health insurance coverage. Findings from this survey are compared with EBRI's findings from earlier surveys.

Health savings accounts and health reimbursement arrangements: assets, account balances, and rollovers, 2006-2011.

ASSET LEVELS GROWING: In 2011, there was $12.4 billion in health savings accounts (HSAs) and health reimbursement arrangements (HRAs), spread across 8.4 million accounts, according to data from the 2011 EBRI/MGA Consumer Engagement in Health Care Survey, sponsored by EBRI and Matthew Greenwald & Associates.