Comparison of CDHC, Non-CDHC Healthcare Insurance Users Shows Some Differences

Traditional health insurance

While consumer directed healthcare offerings (CDHC) are popular with respondents to a nationwide survey, traditional health insurance offerings (non-CDHC) still satisfy the needs of a majority of users.

With more than 2,000 respondents from across the nation, the survey offers a glimpse of future trends in healthcare insurance as offered by such CDHC programs as Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) while providing comfort for supporters and users of more traditional plans.

Overall, 81% said they were satisfied with their current insurance plan but 43% of non-CDHC respondents were concerned about pricing versus just 6% of CDHC users.

The bottom line is that except for pricing, most non-CDHC insurance plan users are satisfied with their current offerings.

"This survey shows the differences and similarities in user outlook of the nation's healthcare insurance programs," said JoAnn Laing, President of Information Strategies, Inc. (ISI). The media and marketing company conducted the nationwide poll throughout March and published the first results on its website, www.HSAfinder.com

"What's more, when compared with CDHC users, this group utilized their insurance plans with about the same profile except in terms of wellness and smoking cessation," she added.

Yearly premium costs however differed by $2,650 on average between the two groups with non-CDHC ($7,861) users paying on average 33% more than the CDHC group ($5,211). The average deductible for CDHC respondents was $1,899 while that of non-CDHC respondents was $467.

One of the main differences between CDHC insurance and non-CDHC insurance is the need for a higher deductible in the former case. The survey clearly indicates that on average, the higher deductible is offset by the reduction in premiums.

Conducted by the media services company, Information Strategies, Inc., the survey disclosed that there were little differences in the make-up between users of CDHC programs and non-CDHC programs.

CDHC