Consumer-directed health care is often touted as a way to reduce healthcare spending and contain costs. This is because it shifts costs to the consumer, creating a financial incentive for patients to find the best value for their money.
An ideal consumer-directed health plan would have lower premiums, leaving consumers with more money to spend according to their needs. At the same time, this plan would also have a higher deductible to discourage unnecessary spending. The plan would give consumers easy access to accurate cost and quality information, so they could make more informed decisions about how their money should be spent. For example, someone with a consumer-directed health plan who needs a hip replacement should be able to find out how much the procedure would cost at various providers in the area, as well as each surgeon's success rate and overall patient satisfaction. He or she could use this information to decide where to go for a hip replacement.
Unfortunately, we do not live in an ideal world, so consumer-directed health care does not always work as intended. This type of plan, however, does force consumers to become more aware of how much healthcare services cost. Some experts believe that this awareness may lead to reduced health spending. Others believe that consumers will choose to forgo necessary care and may develop more expensive health problems in the future. This subject is still hotly debated in the health policy community.
