Consumer Information for Consumer Driven Plans

[leevena]

I am looking for additional sources of information for my clients who enroll in either a HRA or HSA. Right now I can direct them to the carrier, but that information is somewhat limited. Does anyone know of sites, or even products/services I can purchase to help?

[Guest fritzreb]

AHIP (Assoc. of Health Insurance Plans) has a good site:

http://www.healthdecisions.org

{See additional information sources below}

[GBurns]

Are these clients the employers or the employees?

If the employer has already adopted and implemented an HRA, What sort of information would you want to provide that would not already have been provided in order for the decision to have been made and the enrollment already done?

What are youu seeking to do and What sort of information are you looking for?

[leevena]

I am looking for information/data for the employees to use. These employees are usually leaving managed care plans that essentially steered them through the medical system and made most of the decisions for them. Now with HRA's and HSA's the employee needs to become a better consumer of health care. Where can they go to become more informed about health care, expenses, etc. For example, if one is to have a gall bladder operation a 24 hour stay with a per diem cost is better than a 23 hour stay with fee for service costs.

[GBurns]

Something is missing here.

How could a rational decision have been made to change to these plans (HRA and HSAs) without the availability etc of this information having been considered and resolved? This seems similar to an employer getting a PPO or HMO based plan but not knowing what Drs etc were available nor what limitations and exclusions existed.

[leevena]

I don't think an irrational decision was made here and your analogy to selecting a managed care plan without knowing about the provider panel is not accurate either. As I mentioned in the my original posting, there is some information available, but as most industry people will admit, there needs to be more. I am searching for those additional sources of information now.

[GBurns]

Where did I say that an irrational decision was made?

But you still have not explained what sort of information is missing.

How to choose a Dr, hospital or other service provider?

How to read a bill for services?

Understanding ICD and CPT Codes?

How to get a price quotation?

Understanding UCR and network discounts?

How to comparison shop?

How to know what services etc are medically necessary?

What are treatment protocols and guidelines?

I could go on and on. The point is that There are many things that a consumer should know in order to effectively use CDHP, and the availability of that information should have been a necessary part of both the decision and the employee education. Not knowing what was given and therefore not knowing what is missing makes it impossible to fill the gaps.

[Guest fritzreb]

Don't assume information from the high deductible health plan provider is limited. I am a federal employee with a high deductible health plan and HSA through Aetna and the Aetna website has many tools that are helpful in determining the cost of care based on the types of services and zip code. I can type in my zip code, enter the type of service and get a comparison of what the procedure/service will cost me based on whether I elect to receive the service from an in-network provider or out-of-network provider. I don't know about the other carriers, but Aetna has been a great souce of information.

[GBurns]

That is the point. A provider is usually chosen based on what that provider is able to provide. When the choice is being made to use that provider, the gaps are known and provisions are made so as to supplement any deficiencies.

[Gary Lesser]

The AICPA's new brochure, Guide to Understanding Health Savings Accounts, is being offered to insurance companies, financial institutions and others to help them offer clients and customers an independent, unbiased explanation.

Price information: Contact vendor--

AICPA

Martin A. Censor, Esq.

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Voice: 201.938.3717