For six consecutive years, U.S. health care costs have risen in double digits. Employers are struggling to contain these costs while continuing to offer employees reasonable medical and prescription drug coverage.

But some companies are saying, “Enough is enough.” They’ve already shifted as much cost as they feel they can to employees. Even those remaining employers who covered the entire cost of health care have started cost-sharing with their workers. Others have explored consumer-driven health care models that include health savings accounts or health reimbursement accounts. They’ve tweaked and retweaked plan design until they feel they can do no more.

So, where do they go from here? Back to their employees.

In some respects, employees may represent the “last frontier” for cost containment. Employers see positive outcomes when they enlist their employees in the fight against skyrocketing health care costs. Technological advances and new prescription drugs are expensive, and with experts predicting health care cost increases to continue in 2006, employees need to become savvy health care consumers.

Savvy health care consumers exhibit five essential habits

Another reason to look to the workforce is that, in many cases, the workforce is unhealthy. An unhealthy population needs more costly medical intervention. Unless plan participants adopt healthier lifestyles, claims will continue rising.

Finally, in most cases employees don’t understand the size of the problem. Educating them about the urgency of the situation — and enlisting their help— creates awareness and enables them to roll up their sleeves and participate.

The fact is, savvy health care consumers aren’t born. They’re made. Any employee at any salary level in any industry can learn to use the company’s health plan wisely. But what does such a consumer “look” like? Following are five essential habits that are common to all savvy health care consumers.

Habit No. 1: Wise Consumers Know What Things Cost

The nature of medical coverage in America — provided by employers to employees — is arguably the biggest stumbling block to consumerism. Before managed care, employers provided indemnity plans and “major medical” coverage. Employees saw the doctors of their choice and paid some portion of the bills.

With managed care and health maintenance organizations (HMOs), employees entered a veritable “all you can eat” buffet of health care services. As long as they visited a primary care physician, they could see the doctor as often as they wished and pay nothing more than a co-pay. Who paid attention to cost? Not employees. And that behavior had to change.

Today, the wise health care consumer knows the real cost of a doctor’s office visit, a prescription for Lipitor or a hospital stay. Once employees understand how much their health services actually cost, they have a context for the need to change.

Habit No. 2: Wise Consumers Choose Correctly

Faced with a plethora of medical plan options, a wise consumer knows how to evaluate the alternatives and make the best choice for him- or herself. Is there a family member with a chronic condition (e.g., asthma, diabetes, allergies) that requires regular, frequent trips to the doctor? Is an addition to the family planned this year? Wise consumers compare annual deductibles, out-of-pocket maximums and plan designs against the backdrop of their personal situations and make informed decisions.

Habit No. 3: Wise Consumers Know Their Own Health Status

Along with knowing how to analyze and make good choices, wise health care consumers have a highly developed sense of self-awareness when it comes to health. They know what to do to maximize their health status: They eat sensibly, exercise regularly, avoid drugs and tobacco, keep alcohol consumption to a minimum. In short, they’re riskaverse when it comes to their well-being.

Wise health care consumers start by completing a health risk assessment to gain a clear understanding of their personal health status. They also inventory their families’ health history to determine what they could be in for, genetically speaking, when it comes to diseases with a hereditary link. Knowing their family health history enables wise health care consumers to prepare themselves and take steps to prevent or delay the onset of any chronic conditions they may inherit.

Habit No. 4: Wise Health Care Consumers Take Advantage of Freebies

The preventive care services in most medical plans are the most underutilized benefits of any health plan. Wise health care consumers make it their business to take advantage of what’s offered for free. These services, paid at 100 percent in many plans, typically include well child care, immunizations, pap smears, mammograms, prostate screenings, annual checkups, etc.

Wise consumers also know how to ferret out even more freebies. The Web offers resources, such as Health Compare, a service that lets users evaluate and compare the quality of care in local hospitals. Health plan Web sites also provide tools, allowing users to leverage the value of their medical plan choice.

Habit No. 5: Wise Consumers Conserve Cash

Wise health care consumers avoid spending unnecessarily on health care. Accordingly, they will sign up for their employer’s health care flexible spending account (FSA), which allows them to set aside pretax dollars from their pay, then use those dollars to reimburse themselves for eligible health care expenses (including over-the-counter drugs). Savvy health care consumers remember to claim all those eligible health care items they bought at the drugstore — and they estimate judiciously when they calculate how much to set aside from their pay.

Written by: Kathryn Jandeska

For more information related to this article: Go to www.worldatwork.org/advancedsearch and:• Type in this key word string on the search line: Health care consumerism.

Disclaimer: This information is for educational and informational purposes only. The content is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any question you may have regarding a medical condition. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have read.

Copyright 2006 HCMT

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