The Employee Benefits Research Institute (EBRI) released a brief examining consumer-driven health plans (CDHPs), including health reimbursement arrangements (HRAs) and health savings accounts (HSAs).  The brief found that CDHPs typically have lower premiums than other plans but that CDHP enrollees have higher illness burdens because they are responsible for more out-of-pocket spending when they require care.  EBRI also notes that 11 percent of privately insured individuals were enrolled in CDHPs in 2009 and suggests that more research is needed to determine CDHP’s impact on health care utilization and spending. 

From the report:

Employers began offering consumer-driven health plans (CDHPs) in 2001 when a handful started offering health reimbursement arrangements (HRAs). They then started offering health savings account (HSA)-eligible plans after the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 included a provision to allow individuals with certain high-deductible health plans to contribute to an HSA. This report summarizes what is known about CDHPs, which include both HRAs and HSAs. 

Full report: What Do We Really Know About Consumer-Driven Health Plans? (PDF | 587.44 KB)

Employee Benefits Research Institute. (2010). What do we really know about consumer-driven health plans? Fronstin, P.