High-Deductible Healthcare Up

More big U.S. employers are building high deductibles into their workers’ health plan options, but many of these companies do not see such programs as a silver bullet for slowing the rise of medical costs.

About 30% of large and mid-size corporations this year are offering the plans, which typically include a high deductible coupled with a tax-favored savings account to pay for health costs, according to a recent study by employee benefits consultant Watson Wyatt Worldwide. That compares with 7% of companies polled in 2004.

Plan proponents, including big companies and health insurers, call the new options “consumer directed” because they say patients’ increased responsibility for spending gives them more control over their care.

Simply requiring employees to shoulder more of the costs bears little relation to whether a company has a handle on medical expenses, the study said.

Instead, companies keeping cost increases down are more likely to adopt quality controls, such as paying more to providers that meet certain criteria.

About 60% of companies polled said they expected the new plans to be somewhat effective in controlling cost increases.