Plan Design
Designing CDHP from the Ground Up
Plan design is the first, and probably most important, step in creating an effective Consumer Driven Health Plan (CDHP). The options can seem endless, and understanding an employer’s needs is the best place to start. In fact, the DPI-Suite solution includes optional consulting services to help you with comprehensive benefit design and implementation.
CDHP Primer
In general, a CDHP is any plan that gives employees a financial incentive to influence consumption of care. The CDHP will usually revolve around a High Deductible Health Plan (HDHP), but offering an HDHP by itself does not create a CDHP, which can encompass multiple plan options at different price points, everything from an ultra-rich to a bare-bones benefit plan.
At it's most simple, however, a CDHP involves a basic three-tier structure:
- An HDHP that pays for expenses above the insurance deductible
- A tax-favored health account to pay for qualified health expenses up to a certain amount
- Out-of-pocket expenses to cover any health care expenses not paid by the HDHP or health account
The DPI-Suite provides seamless integration between the HDHP and the health account, as well as debit and credit card connectivity to help individuals avoid the out-of-pocket expenses that are typically required to cover the gap between the two.
Because more responsibility now lies with the individual in terms of health care costs, the DPI-Suite also provides value-added, Internet-based Health Resource Services to help individuals become more informed and active consumers of health care.
Now, to take the concept a little further, let's look at: