At a Glance | January 24, 2019 High-Deductible Health Plan Enrollees Report Greater Financial Concerns Than Enrollees in Traditional Plans FIN A NCI A L S TATE OF MIND Financial Concerns by Plan Type Traditional plan HDHP enrollees High-Deductible Health Plan (HDHP) enrollees were more 41% 50% Not able to retire when ready/ likely than traditional plan Running out of money in retirement enrollees to report that they 44% 47% Not having enough emergency savings worry a lot about their finances for unexpected expenses and that debt is negatively 28% 40% Not having enough money to cover impacting their ability to save out-of-pocket health care expenses for retirement. 29% 32% Not being able to meet monthly expenses/debt Traditional enrollees are 17% 26% Being laid off from work more likely to report that they do not have any major 30% 18% I don’t have any major financial concerns financial concerns. 1 Financial Worries Traditional plan HDHP enrollees 58% 63% Worried about the ability to afford retirement 53% 60% Worry a lot about finances 57% 60% Feel financially secure 41% 48% Debt negatively impacts the ability to save for retirement INCOME A ND EDUC ATION Income Distribution Education Level HDHP enrollees have Traditional HDHP Traditional HDHP characteristics equated with plan enrollees plan enrollees greater financial stability, $150k and above 17% 29% Graduate degree 18% 27% including higher income and $100k—$149.9k 21% 21% education levels. College graduate 28% $70k—$99.9k 20% 17% 45% $50k—$69.9k 13% 13% Did not graduate 54% Though high-deductible health plan enrollees college $20k—$49.9k 21% 16% earn more money than their traditional plan counterparts, they are more concerned about Under $20k 6% 1% 28% expenses and don’t feel as financially secure. Did not answer 3% 2% It’s important to note that this is just a perception and does not mean that they are actually less financially secure. They may be more financially aware than those enrolled in traditional health plans, and they may have higher expectations for their retirement lifestyle. 1. Percentage that “Strongly” or “Somewhat Agree” with statement. Source: Paul Fronstin. “Consumer Engagement in Health Care: Findings From the 2018 EBRI/Greenwald & Associates Consumer Engagement in Health Care Survey.” EBRI Issue Brief, no. 468 (Employee Benefit Research Institute, December 20, 2018). © 2019 EBRI