Figure 1 High-Deductible Health Plan (HDHP) and Traditional Plan Enrollees More information about the EBRI/Greenwald Research Consumer Engagement in Health Care Survey can be Equally Likely to Report Making Cost-Conscious Decisions found online. In the last 12 months/Since you joined your current health plan, did you do any of the following? March 16, 2023, #458 Percentage Yes The 2022 Consumer Engagement in Health Care Survey was an online survey of 2,015 Americans ages 21– 64 with private health insurance coverage Tradi.ti I on t w al as Hi figh el-de Dedu d i ctin O ble Hea ctobe lth Pr lan and November of 2022. The survey is made possible with funding support from the following organizations: Blue Cross Blue Shield Association, Checked Whether My Health Insurance Plan Would Cover My Care or 56% Medication 59% HealthEquity, Millennium Trust Company, Segal, TIAA, UMB Financial, and Voya Financial. 42% Asked for a Generic Drug Instead of a Brand-Name Drug 42% The Emp How loyee B H enas efit R Hea esearch I lth Care Be nstitute is a private, havior nonpartisan, and n Chan onprofged it researOv ch inser Ti titute base me d in ? Checked the Quality Rating of a Doctor or Hospital Before I Received 47% Washington, D.C., that focuses on health, savings, retirement, and economic security issues. EBRI does not lobby Care From Them 45% and does not take policy positions. The work of EBRI is made possible by funding from its members and Checked the Price of a Doctor’s Visit, Medication, or Other Health Care 46% sponsors, which include a broad range of public and private organizations. For more inform 46% ation, visit Among the key rea Sso ervns ice t Bha efore t em I Rec pl eioye ved Car rs adop e t high-deductible health plans (HDHPs) is the hope that such cost www.ebri.org. sharing will lead to more cost-conscious health care behavior. Evidence from the Employee Benefit Research 44% Talked to My Doctor About Other Treatment Options and Costs 39% Institute (EBRI) and Greenwald Research Consumer Engagement in Health Care Survey shows that participants Greenwald Research is a leading independent custom research firm and consulting partner to the health and in such plans generally were more cost conscious than participants in traditional health care plans in past years of 46% Talked to My Doctor About Prescription Options and Costs 42% wealth industries that applies creative quantitative and qualitative methods to help companies stay competitive the survey. That was no longer the case in 2022. and nav Usi ed ga an te Oinndu line Cos strt-T y ch rackan ing To ge. Leve ol Providr ed ag by ing d My Hea ee lth p Isub nsurajnc ec et matter expertise and a consultative approach, Greenwald 35% 28% Plan to Manage My Health Expenses offers comprehensive services to answer strategic business questions. For more information, go to The survey asked a number of questions about cost-conscious behavior. It asked whether the health plan 24% www.greenwaldresearch.com participant did a Declny of ined All or P theart o folf a low Mei dng ical: P rocedure Due to Its Cost 24% 35% Developed a Budget to Manage My Health Care Expenses • Checked whether their health insurance plan would cover care or medication. 31% ### • Checked the price of a doctor’s visit, medication, or other health care service before receiving care. 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% • Checked the quality rating of a doctor or hospital before receiving care. Source: Employee Benefit Research Institute and Greenwald Research, 2022 Consumer Engagement in Health Care Survey. • Talked to their doctor about prescription options and costs. • Talked to their doctor about other treatment options and costs. Figure 2 • Used an online cost-tracking tool provided by their health insurance plan to manage health expenses. Percentage Increase in High-Deductible Health Plan (HDHP) and • Developed a budget to manage health care expenses. Traditional Plan Enrollees Reporting Making Cost-Conscious • Declined all or part of a medical procedure due to its cost. Decisions • Asked for a generic drug instead of a brand-name drug. Traditional High-Deductible Health Plan Checked Whether My Health Insurance Plan Would Cover My Care or In 2021, the survey found that HDHP enrollees were more likely than traditiona 44%l health plan enrollees to have 18% Medication taken most of the above actions. However, while these differences were not found in 2022, there are two important findings related to these questions. First, the percentage of plan enroll50% ees who took these actions Asked for a Generic Drug Instead of a Brand-Name Drug 11% increased across the board for both traditional plan and HDHP enrollees. Second, the increase in the percentage of Checked the Quality Rating of a Doctor or Hospital Before I Received enrollees reporting that they took these actions was much larger among traditiona 47%l plan enrollees than it was for Care From Them 18% HDHP enrollees. Checked the Price of a Doctor’s Visit, Medication, or Other Health Care 53% Service Before I Received Care 28% Essentially, traditional plan enrollees caught up to HDHP enrollees in terms of their cost-conscious decision making. This is not a surprise for two reasons. Even among traditional plan enrollees, cost sharing has been 63% Talked to My Doctor About Other Treatment Options and Costs 18% increasing. In fact, when adjusted for inflation, deductibles for employee-only coverage in preferred provider organizations (PPOs) and point-of-service (POS) plans have been increasing, while those in HDHPs have been 70% Talked to My Doctor About Prescription Options and Costs 40% declining. Second, regardless of health plan, enrollees tend to have access to the same tools and resources. So, it shoulUs d co ed an m e a Onlis no ne Cossur t-Trap cr kiinse g To tha ol Ptr t ov riad dedi t by iona My Hea l pl lth an e Insura nrnc ol elees are now using those tools and resources at the same rate 84% Plan to Manage My Health Expenses 40% as HDHP enrollees. 100% Declined All or Part of a Medical Procedure Due to Its Cost 33% 84% Developed a Budget to Manage My Health Care Expenses 72% 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% Source: Employee Benefit Research Institute and Greenwald Research, 2022 Consumer Engagement in Health Care Survey. 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