Asparity Decision Solutions provided PlanSmartChoice's online decision support tools during the 2007 open season to help Federal employees make informed choices among their medical and dental insurance options. Federal employees with access to PlanSmartChoice used it to select among an average of 25 health plan options with ease, compare new dental plan options, and estimate tax savings of Health Savings Accounts and Flexible Spending Accounts. The PlanSmartChoice dental comparison -- which was added for 2007 open season -- was the site's most popular feature.

"Federal employees had a more difficult -- and expensive -- decision to make this year given the pure volume of options, and PlanSmartChoice helped them make that decision an informed one," said Colleen Murphy, Asparity's President and CEO. Federal employees were most concerned with the cost-related features of a health plan. These features included participant contribution (premium); the cost of prescription drugs, office visits, emergency room visits, and specialist visits; annual deductible and out-of-pocket maximums. Benefit coverage, access to care, and satisfaction results were also important. Health Savings Accounts and Health Reimbursement Accounts were the two least important attributes, which may mean a need to better communicate these features to the population.

In addition to deciding about dental coverage, Federal employees had to choose from between 15 to 38 medical plans. These options -- Consumer Directed Health Plans (CDHP), High Deductible Health Plans (HDHP), Preferred Provider Organizations (PPO), Health Maintenance Organizations (HMO), and Fee-for-Service (FFS) and Point-of-Service plans (POS) -- varied significantly in how well they met Federal employees' personal needs and financial circumstances. While individual results varied, PlanSmartChoice users found the following:

• CDHPs were the most cost-effective medical plans. On average, CDHPs cost Federal employees selecting "Self" coverage $1,660 and "Family" coverage $3,215 (including out-of-pocket expenses and annual premium). They ranked first in the PlanSmartChoice Cost Calculator in 52 percent of results and placed among the top-three plans (out of an average of 25) in 75 percent of results. CDHPs also performed well in meeting Federal employees' personal health care needs; they ranked first in 24 percent of results and placed among the top-three plans in 53 percent of results.
• On average, HDHPs cost Federal employees $1,778 for "Self" coverage and $3,614 for "Family" coverage. HDHPs were the most cost-effective plans in 26 percent of results and placed among the top-three plans in 67 percent of results. In terms of meeting Federal employees' personal health care needs, they ranked first in only eight percent of results and performed among the top-three plans in 24 percent of results.
• PPOs did the best job of meeting Federal employees' personal needs, as defined in the PlanSmartChoice Preference Module. They ranked first in 53 percent of results and placed among the top-three plans (out of an average of 25) in 88 percent of results. Financially, PPOs were the most cost-effective plan in only 13 percent of results, but placed a mong the top three in more than half of the results. On average, PPOs cost $2,585 for "Self" and $4,924 for "Family" coverage.
• HMOs best fit Federal employees' personal needs and financial circumstances in only seven percent of results, but performed among the top-three plans in 18 percent and 28 percent of results, respectively. Federal employees HMO cost is $2,189 and $4,776 for coverage.
• FFS plans were the most expensive for Federal employees ($3,248 for "Self" and $6,037 for "Family"). They ranked first in the Preference Module in only nine percent of results.
• POS plans best fit Federal employees' personal needs and financial circumstances in less than five percent of results. (The sample size was too small to estimate costs.)

PlanSmartChoice users spent 13 minutes on the site selecting a medical and dental plan. "It was time well spent given the importance -- and cost -- of medical and dental coverage," added Murphy.

Federal employees have used Asparity's PlanSmartChoice health plan selection tools since they were first made available in 1998. The tools were developed in 1996 and 1997, when the Agency for Health Care Policy & Research/ Small Business Innovation Research granted Asparity's founder more than one million dollars to develop software that would help Federal employees and retirees choose a health plan. The technology -- trademarked PlanSmartChoice -- was patented in 2004.