Direct-to-provider healthcare is rapidly growing among employers seeking to lower their healthcare costs. But what do employees think of the idea?
It turns out they like it quite a lot, especially when it comes to primary care. A nationwide 2021 survey conducted by HintHealth shows that 83% of the 1,000 employees who responded would join a direct primary care plan if their employer offered one.
Cost is obviously a factor for employees, just as it is for the companies who employ them. A full 63% of respondents listed the high cost of private health insurance as their chief concern. When told that direct-to-provider primary care would not only lower costs but also increase the quality of their healthcare, they were obviously in favor of such a move. Northwell Direct and Brighton Health Care Solutions have seen these benefits in actions for employees of companies like Whole Foods and Jet Blue.
Let’s face it: Most people have grown up with private healthcare’s fee-for-service model drummed into them as a best practice for health insurance in America. The fact that so many employees are willing to drop the old model goes to show how broken it really is, and how cost-effective and care management–effective direct-to-provider healthcare is.
Interestingly, although the cost of traditional health insurance has risen in 2022, many employers are not passing on the increase on to their employees because they understand that the high out-of-pocket cost of traditional health insurance is a real problem for many families. But they also understand that we’re in the middle of a historically tight labor market, where employees can vote with their feet if they see better health insurance options somewhere else on the horizon.
In other words, it might be the right time to consider making the move to a direct-to-provider system that lowers costs and increases the quality of healthcare.