Privately insured enrollees are generally satisfied with their health plan selection process and benefits, according to recently released data from the Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI) and Greenwald Research.
The Consumer Engagement in Health Care Survey found that the majority of adults surveyed obtained their health insurance coverage through their job or a spouse’s job. Most individuals said they were satisfied with various aspects of their health plan coverage. Over half of enrollees were extremely or very satisfied with their open enrollment process.
When selecting plans, good provider networks was the factor valued by the highest share of enrollees (78%), followed by low out-of-pocket costs (73%) and low premiums (72%).
About two-thirds of individuals said they have a choice of health plan. Adults with high-deductible health plans (HDHPs) were more likely to have three or more health plans to choose from, compared with adults with traditional health plans.
Enrollment in health savings account (HSA)-eligible health plans and health reimbursement arrangements (both of which are known as consumer-driven health plans) leveled off in recent years, bouncing between 18% and 19% between 2020 and 2023. Enrollment in HDHPs that were not eligible to be paired with a health savings account (HSA) fell from 12% in 2022 to 9% in 2023.
Among enrollees who opened HSAs, the top reason was to take advantage of employer contributions (60%), followed by saving for future health care expenses (58%) and on taxes (52%). Over 60% of people saw their HSA as a savings account, while 31% viewed it as an investment account, according to the survey.
“Employers have an opportunity to educate their employees on HSAs. Many accountholders feel having more information would make them more likely to invest their unused funds. For non-accountholders, interest remains high when shown important product features,” Greenwald Research CEO Lisa Greenwald said in a statement.
However, employee satisfaction surveys do not always tell the whole story, according to the 2024 State of Employee Health Benefits Report, produced by SureCo, a platform that offers large and medium-sized companies’ personalized health coverage through Individual Coverage Health Reimbursement Arrangements (ICHRAs). The report was based on responses from 1,637 employees, human resources and finance leaders, and benefits consultants.
While about 84% of employees surveyed said they were satisfied with their health care benefits, about 59% said they would leave their current company for another one with better health benefits. Seventy-nine percent of employees said their plan is sufficient to cover medical problems that may come up in the future, however, almost half of them said they’ve considered alternative health coverage outside of their employers’ offerings, according to the report.
Employees’ main concerns included high out-of-pocket costs, limited coverage and accessibility to the services that they need. Eight out of 10 employees said they would prefer to select their own plan from all available options rather than pick from the options their company offered.
The report also noted that to better control the rising health care costs, only 35% of employers were using traditional, fully insured health plans, while another 33% have already moved to self- or level-funded plans.
This infographic was reprinted from AIS Health’s weekly publication Health Plan Weekly.