Rosenthal M, Hsaun C, and Milstein A.
Health Affairs - November/December 2005
We used a series of case studies of first-generation
consumer-directed health plans to investigate their early experience and the
suitability of their design for reducing the growth in health benefit spending
and improving the value of that spending.We found three fundamental but
correctible weaknesses: Most plans do not make available comparative measures of
quality and longitudinal cost-efficiency in enough detail to help consumers
discern higher-value health care options; financial incentives for consumers are
weak and insensitive to differences in value among the selections that consumers
make; and none of the plans made cost-sharing adjustments to preserve
freedom of choice for low-income consumers.