Companies Choosing Consumer-Driven Health Plans to Curb Double-Digit Annual Cost Increases; Deloitte Consulting Survey Shows Early Adopters Report Strong Levels of Satisfaction Among Employees and Management.

CHICAGO, Sept. 7 /PRNewswire/ -- Nearly one in five companies (19 percent) of 314 firms surveyed offer a consumer-driven health plan, up from 11 percent in 2003, according to Deloitte Consulting LLP, one of the nation's leading professional services firms and a global leader in human capital consulting. An additional 14 percent of companies surveyed will definitely offer such a plan by 2006, while another 29 percent are currently reviewing consumer-driven health options and may offer one in the near future.

With more than half (53 percent) of surveyed companies reporting health care cost increases in 2004 ranging from 11 to more than 20 percent, employers are scrambling to adopt alternative health care models that encourage employee consumerism to help rein in costs without compromising benefits. Consumer- driven health care models can vary considerably, but they share a core principle: enabling employees to understand the true cost of health care services and the options available to them for receiving care while requiring employees to take on…