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The Herman Trend Alert August 16, 2006 Consumer Driven Health Care---A Confusing Opportunity The issue of rising healthcare costs is second only to employee retention in the list of challenges facing employers today. Thus it is no surprise that employers are looking for all kinds of ways to make employees responsible for a larger share of healthcare costs. Enter: Consumer Driven Health Care. Theoretically, the greater the employee participation---through higher deductibles, etc.---the more carefully they will shop for quality and price. Objectives of this strategy are to… Get the consumer more directly involved in making healthcare decisions through larger personal financial risk/expenditure; Make health insurance more like other insurance by covering the more "catastrophic" expenses but not the routine ones (using deductibles in the $2,500-5,000+/year range); and Use tax-favored savings/investment plan options for the routine expenses, e.g., Medical Savings Accounts and Flexible Spending Accounts, etc. For employers, this approach makes healthcare insurance more of a defined contribution rather than defined benefit, enabling them to control costs and budget more effectively. However, there are several problems. The first problem is that people don't really understand healthcare costs. The descriptions of medical problems are complicated and bewildering. Once basic medical information is understood, employees must gather all the numbers and make decisions about where they or their beloved family member should be treated. Often workers are left to compare providers, both facilities and individual physicians, with inadequate information. How many of us feel competent to make a decision between licensed physicians? Now, those people who were already confused have to decide about medical procedures, often when they are under stress, worrying about themselves or about loved ones. Let's try a simple decision first. Given a choice, would you select a Flexible Spending Account, a Health Reimbursement Account, or a Health Savings Account? Do you even know the difference? Consumer-driven healthcare is currently the fastest-growing benefits process in the country and will continue to be that way for the next several years. If we are unable to understand our healthcare coverage, we will soon rely on specialists who will be hired—-like accountants or attorneys—-to guide us through the maze. © Copyright 1998- by The Herman Group, Inc. -- reproduction for publication is encouraged, with the following attribution: From "The Herman Trend Alert," by Joyce Gioia, Strategic Business Futurist. 1.336.210.3548 or https://hermangroup.com. To sign up, visit https://HermanTrendAlert.com. The Herman Trend Alert is a trademark of The Herman Group, Inc." HEAR JOYCE SPEAK TOMORROW AT 11:30 AM EDT Tomorrow morning, Joyce will be a Fireside Chat Speakers at the Brightside Business Women Empowerment Virtual Conference where she will talk about how business women can use the insights from her new, groundbreaking book, EXPERIENCE RULES, to be successful. Register for FREE at https://brightsideglobaltrade.org/women. GET COACHING FOR YOUR PEOPLE FOR LESS THAN $1/DAY! Gain access to dozens of coaches for the same low price. Find out more by visiting https://ingomu.com/joyceg JOYCE IS ON THE RADIO EVERYDAY NOW To listen to Joyce's TV shows on the radio, simply visit RadioFutures.com. Joyce's show is streaming every day at 3:00PM Pacific Time. To read this Herman Trend Alert on the web: https://hermangroup.com/alert/archive_3-29-2023.html. Herman Trend Alerts are produced by the Herman Group, strategic business futurists, Certified Management Consultants, authors, and professional speakers. New subscribers are always welcome. There is no charge for this public service. The Herman Trend Alert is read by over 30,000 people in 90 countries, including other websites and printed periodicals. Click here to sign up for the Herman Trend Alert. Do you enjoy receiving this weekly e-mail update? Contact us about our co-branded Herman Trend Alert service. Subscribe or Unsubscribe to weekly Herman Trend Alert View this week's Herman Trend Alert Archived Weekly Herman Trend Alerts

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