Early experience with high-deductible and consumer-driven health plans: findings from the EBRI/Commonwealth Fund Consumerism in Health Care Survey.

• The latest “big idea”—Promoting consumerism in health care is the latest big idea in health insurance in the United States. One of the leading manifestations of this is the use of high-deductible health plans with savings accounts, such as health savings accounts (HSAs) and health reimbursement arrangements (HRAs), collectively known as consumer-driven health plans (CDHPs). The first EBRI/Commonwealth Fund Consumerism in Health Care Survey was conducted to provide reliable national data on the growth of high deductible plans and their impact on the behavior and attitudes of health care consumers. The study defines high-deductible plans as those that would qualify for federal HSA tax preferences: with deductibles of $1,000 or more for individual plans and $2,000 or more for family plans.