Consumer-Driven Health Plans

Introduction | Consumer-Driven Health | HSAs & HRAs | Retiree Health

 A Consumer-Driven plan provides you with greater freedom in spending health care dollars the way you want. The typical plan has common components: Member responsibility for certain out-of-pocket medical costs, an employer-funded account that you may use to pay all of these medical costs, and catastrophic coverage with a high deductible. The savings associated with these plans are significant and worth taking a closer look at. IBC can provide your company with plan designs that tailor the benefits to cover your employees more comprehensively than your current traditional group health plan. With premium savings you can now offer additional benefits such as LT disability, Critical Illness Benefits, LT Care benefits, etc.

A High Deductible Health Plan (HDHP) provides comprehensive coverage for high-cost medical events and a tax-advantaged way to help you build savings for future medical expenses. The HDHP gives you greater flexibility and discretion over how you use your health care benefits.

When you enroll, your health plan establishes for you either a Health Savings Account (HSA) or a Health Reimbursement Arrangement (HRA). The plan automatically deposits the monthly "premium pass through" into your HSA. The plan credits an amount into the HRA.
 
Preventive care is often covered in full, usually with no or only a small deductible or copayment. Preventive care expenses may also be payable up to an annual maximum dollar amount (up to $300 for instance). As you receive other non-preventive medical care, you must meet the plan deductible before the health plan pays benefits. You can choose to pay your deductible with funds from your HSA or you can choose instead to pay for your deductible out-of-pocket, allowing your savings to continue to grow.
 
The HDHP features higher annual deductibles and annual out-of-pocket limits (not to exceed $5,000 for Self and $10,000 for Family coverage) than other insurance plans. Depending on the HDHP you choose, you may have the choice of using in-network and out-of-network providers. There may be higher deductibles and out-of-pocket limits when you use out-of-network providers. Using in-network providers will save you money.  The IRS determines how much and individual or a family can contribute annually.