To gain early insights into what is, arguably, the most important development in health insurance since the widespread introduction of HMOs in the 1980s, McKinsey recently completed extensive primary research on Consumer-Directed Health Plans (CDHPs).

To our knowledge, this is the first research of its type to eliminate the possibility of major adverse selection bias because it studied the behavior of consumers whose employers had made the bold move of offering only a CDHP to their employees (i.e., they offered full replacement accounts).

Overall, this research demonstrates the potential for CDHPs to alter consumer behavior in ways that could fundamentally change how consumers think about their health - and how they utilize health care resources.