The survey also found that private sector enrollees typically have less choice of plans than are available in the FEHB. Image: Mariusz S. Jurgielewicz/Shutterstock.com
By: FEDweek StaffHealth insurance enrollees on average spend less than an hour during annual open seasons exploring their options, a study has found.
The study by the Employee Benefit Research Institute, involving a survey of persons who made open season elections last fall, did not directly involve the FEHB program. However, its findings are consistent with the patterns in that program, in which only low single-digit percentages of enrollees make a change during that annual opportunity.
The survey found that enrollees of high-deductible health plans, a more complicated form of coverage, on average spent more time on the decision. That’s in part because unlike in the FEHB program, where enrollments renew automatically each year unless changed, in some private sector programs an election must be designated each year.
The survey also found that private sector enrollees typically have less choice of plans than are available in the FEHB.
“When it comes to their health plan, most people thought that the following aspects were very or somewhat important: the network of health care providers, low out-of-pocket costs, low premiums, prescription drug coverage and simple to understand. Generally, traditional plan enrollees and HDHP enrollees ranked these aspects of health care in the same order with one exception: Traditional plan enrollees reported that low out-of-pocket costs for doctor’s visits were more important,” it said.
The report recommended paying special attention to “the trade-offs between premiums and cost sharing” and terms of coverage for chronic conditions.
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