Confirming data first reported by Information Strategies, Inc., Aetna says a survey of consumer directed healthcare users shows they consistently have lower medical costs, maintained levels of chronic and preventive care and increased usage of generic medications and consumer tools and information.

One of the largest providers of health care, disability and long-term care benefits reported the results of what it says is the broadest study to date of consumer-directed plans -- a review of four years of data to determine the impact of consumer-directed health plans on 1.6 million Aetna members.

ISI, the parent of www.hsafinder.com, reported similar results from its study of more than 14,000 healthcare users.  In that study, the company found that consumer directed users generally adopted more wellness programs and switched to generic drugs more often than their counterparts in more traditional plans such as PPOs.

The company said this includes members in an Aetna HealthFund consumer-directed plan as well as employees within the same employer groups. The study is a unique snapshot of how offering a consumer-directed plan as an option impacts all employees in a group, regardless of which plan they choose. The 1.6 million members studied include 134,000 Health Reimbursement Arrangement members from 99 employers, 18,000 Health Savings Account members from 27 employers, and 1.45 million Aetna members from those same employer groups who have chosen other benefits offerings. These members were compared to a population of 1.4 million Aetna PPO members comprised of all large employer groups. Four years of data was studied for HRA members, two years of data was studied for HSA members, and three years of data was studied for the comparison population.