‘Diane Rehm Show’ Discusses Consumer-Driven Health Plans

WAMU's "The Diane Rehm Show," an NPR syndicated program, on Aug. 20 included a discussion of new "consumer-driven" health insurance policies designed to shift costs from employers to employees and provide patient choice. Guests on the program included Deborah Chollet of Mathematica Policy Research, Inc.; Douglas Kronenberg, chief strategy officer for Lumenos, a "consumer-driven" Internet health insurance provider; and Mark White, a senior health care consultant at Watson Wyatt, Inc., a global consulting firm (Knoy, "The Diane Rehm Show," WAMU, 8/20). Three main types of these policies are currently being sold to employers: high-deductible plans with spending accounts, defined contribution plans and after-tax savings accounts (Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, 1/8). Topics of discussion on the program included how patient choice, price transparency and provider quality information can decrease costs and increase quality for both employers and employees; the potential "dilemma" for lower income workers who may "have to choose" whether or not to see a physician based on their account balances or to rely on telephone consultation services provided by the plans; whether the policies "further splinter" the risk-sharing pool or attract a "broad distribution" of participants; and whether the plans are "guaranteed" to be successful in lowering employer health care costs (Knoy, "The Diane Rehm Show," WAMU, 8/20).
The full segment is available online in RealPlayer Audio.