The purpose of this toolkit is to help benefit managers understand consumer-driven health care benefits as well as to provide a road map and resources for addressing child and adolescent health care in consumer-driven benefit designs. Advocates for one new benefits model — the consumer-driven health plan model — state that it may result in improved employee health and satisfaction while moderating increases in costs. One model pairs a high-deductible health plan (HDHP) with a personal health care savings account to provide consumers with expanded choice and access. It also places a greater emphasis on preventive health care. These added benefits come with added responsibilities: consumer driven health care requires a greater level of employee involvement, decision-making and risk-sharing. This shift of responsibility will require employees to more actively manage their family’s health care service use. Parents will have greater decision-making responsibility for determining medical care for their child and adolescent dependents. Parents will also have to increase responsibility for managing the costs of care. As a result of concerns that consumers lack the education and skills necessary to do this effectively, benefit managers will be challenged not only to educate employees to appropriately use consumer-driven benefit plans, but also to educate employees to improve the overall health of their families...
