The change in my healthcare experience that I described in my previous post represents a recent change in the healthcare industry to Consumer Driven Healthcare plans (CDH). CDH plans were introduced in 2001 and they include a high deductible with a flexible spending account. So what does this mean? The high deductible is a dollar amount you have to spend on your medical bills before your insurance kicks in; so if you have a $4,000 deductible you basically have to spend up to $4,000 for all your bills before the insurance company starts paying its portion!
The idea of discouraging consumers from going to the doctor does not seem ‘consumer driven’ to me.
These plans were created to discourage most consumers from going to the doctor. This was a big change for me; I was used to going to several doctors as a teenager under my dad’s insurance but with the introduction of these plans it has made me think twice before going to the doctor. The idea of discouraging consumers from going to the doctor does not seem ‘consumer driven’ to me.
So what is my definition of consumer driven healthcare? Healthcare should be easily accessible, it should be transparent in terms of cost and quality. Healthcare should help consumers prevent complications and help us stay informed and help us maintain a healthy lifestyle. If consumers were encouraged to utilize their healthcare; it would translate into a healthier population which would be beneficial to the nation as whole in the long run.
