Analysts predict surge in limited insurance policies.(Practice Trends)

WASHINGTON -- Expect more health plans to offer limited insurance policies for people who are currently uninsured, Robert Laszewski said at a press briefing sponsored by the Center for Studying Health System Change.

"Insurers are recognizing that the 45 million people who are uninsured are a market," said Mr. Laszewski, founder and president of Health Policy and Strategy Associates, a consulting firm. "Now, they're not a market for comprehensive major medical insurance, but they are a market for very limited benefits programs, programs that cost perhaps $50-$100 per month."

He added that such plans--which typically include a wellness checkup every other year, a few visits to a primary care physician, and a drug benefit based on generic drugs--have come under criticism for not doing enough to help the uninsured. "I think that's a false set of arguments," he said. "Of course they're not going to solve the problems of the uninsured, but [they] do respond to the needs of people who cannot afford health insurance."

Most speakers at the conference also were upbeat about the future of consumer-driven health plans, such as health savings accounts (HSAs), although Christine Arnold, an executive director specializing in managed care at New York brokerage firm Morgan Stanley, noted that such plans are still a very small part of employers' health insurance offerings.

"Less than 5% of any HMO's total book of business is right now in any form of consumer-directed health care," she said. "We may be on the cusp of a product revolution, which I've been hoping for, but I don't think it's here yet."

Mr. Laszewski added that although consumer-driven health care "is a wonderful thing," it focuses on first-dollar benefits rather than on the real problem in health care spending: that 75% of the costs are incurred by the 15% of people who are very ill. "It's the sick people who blow through the deductibles and get to the out-of-pocket maximums," he said. "Sick people are the ones who control costs. Consumer-driven health care is a wonderful thing, but when the day is done, the ...