Assumptions of Consumer-Driven Health Plans: Results from a survey among Dutch consumers

This presentation reports the results of a study what factors influence Dutch consumers' choice of health insurance. One important underlying assumption of Consumer-Driven Health Plans (CDHP) is that consumers have the ability to make informed decisions about health services and should be given the tools they need to do so. However, evidence about the success or failure of CDHP is mixed. In this paper we report the results of a study designed to test this assumption about consumer health plan shopping. In the fall of 2006 a survey of 3856 citizens (19-65 years of age) in the Alkmaar region of the Netherlands questioned respondents about health, health care and consumption of health services. A response rate of 73% (n=2836) assures that the results are generalizible to the total population. Results indicate that 28% of the respondents changed their health insurance plan in 2006. Those changing their health plan were compared with those who did not. Discriminant function analysis (p<0.01) allows us to reject the hypothesis that consumers actively seek information. Instead a strong correlation (R=0.43) was found between the revealed presence of purchasing groups and changing health plans. Respondents who reported changing their health plans were more likely to mention purchasing groups than those who did not change health plans. Purchasing groups, not individual shopping for the best health insurance policy in a competitive market situation was by far the most important factor in a model that explains 21% of the observed variance in changing health plans.