Aetna study shows Health Savings Accounts save money for members and employers

June 9, 11:31 AMHealth Care ExaminerSheila Guilloton

Previous Next

1 comment Print Email RSS Subscribe

Subscribe

Get alerts when there is a new article from the Health Care Examiner. Read Examiner.com's terms of use.

Email Address   Include other special offers from Examiner.com Terms of Use

Aetna headquarters in Hartford, Connecticut

Insurance giant Aetna announced today that members who use Health Savings Accounts instead of traditional PPO plans, save significant money while still getting high quality health care.

Aetna conducted the survey over a 5 year period. The results shows that employees who use a Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) made better use of their health insurance plans then those employees who were enrolled in traditional managed care plans.

HSA members had less utilization of emergency rooms visits as well as less utilization of primary care physician visits for non-routine services and lower utilization of specialists services.

However,  the survey also showed that the lower utilization did not compromise the health of the members. HSA members accessed the same of higher levels of screenings for diabetes, cervical and breast cancers. HSA members utilized prescription drugs necessary to treat chronic conditions such as heart disease, high cholesterol and blood pressure and diabetes at a similar or higher rate than those insured under a PPO or other managed care plan.

The savings realized by members and employers who made good use of the HSA option were not insignificant. Employers saved 21 million per 10,000 member over the 5 years of the study.

Key to the success of the program was the consumer education and especially  a well managed program of focused and ongoing employee education campaigns.  Offering wellness programs and incentives to encourage healthy behavior also helped.  To help the consumer driven plans such as HSAs succeed,  Aetna increased levels of preventative care which are paid by the carrier and do not require a member to dip into their HSA accounts to pay for preventative services.

Aetna is a leading provider of health care plans nationwide. Aetna serves approximately 36.5 million members. The 5 year survey which they conducted studied 2.6 million members of whom  410,000 were enrolled in an HSA.

Employers, large and small, who are looking to save money on health insurance without sacrificing quality of care or freedom of choice for their employees might consider reviewing consumer drive health plans as a way of controlling cost without injuring their employees. Both the HSA and related HRA plans may provide just the right mix of benefits and savings.