What's next for consumer-directed health plans?

Although over half of employers currently offer a consumer-directed health plan (CDHP), the median plan enrollment rate for individual companies is low, at just 14%. This article explains factors underlying low enrollment rates by reviewing the history of CDHPs and examining whether CDHPs have lived up to their initial value proposition in terms of cost reduction and consumer behavioral change. The author identifies the sentinel effect that CDHP concepts have had on traditional plans and where further actions and developments are needed to change employee behaviors and increase enrollment in CDHPs.