High-Deductible Plan Enrollment Grows as Employers Express Increasing Scepticism.

The enrollment of large-company workers in high-deductible plans has reached a historic high, with nearly half (47 percent) moving into into high-deductible plans, according to the Healthcare Financial Management Association (HFMA). Fewer large employers are offering these plans as the only option, however. Also, the share of large employers offering concierge services is increasing to a projected 60 percent in 2020, up from 39 percent in 2019.

HDHP enrollment increased from 35 percent in 2018 and 28 percent in 2017, according to the National Business Group on Health, which queries large employers annually on healthcare trends.

In addition, employers have increasingly expressed skepticism that high-deductible plans benefit their employees, after many companies embraced them as a cost-saving strategy, HFMA reported. Large deductibles did not drive the type of shopping and consumer behavior that employers had anticipated and instead often led employees to skimp on needed care. Hospitals have raised concerns that these plans leave more patients unable to cover their out-of-pocket costs...