Are U.S. employees at last beginning to realize that insurancepremiums may not be the best, or only, way to pick a healthplan?

An Aflac study suggests that is exactly what is happening. Asenrollment time rolls around, Alfac reports that while mostemployees continue to evaluate plans based upon premiums, more arestarting to dig a bit deeper to see if they should in fact bepaying more attention to (and spending less on) thedeductible side of the equation.

The 2015 Aflac Open Enrollment survey reveals severalunsurprising outcomes: that employees hate having to choose a plan,that they’d rather be doing almost anything else thangoing through the annual enrollment drill, and thatthey tend to look first at what the monthly premium will cost themwhen they make the decision.

But the survey also found that more than half—52 percent—“atleast somewhat agree” that they later regretted choosing a highdeductible plan. And even more—59 percent—said they “at leastsomewhat agree” that the HDHP hurt themselves and/or their familyfinancially.

Further, 39 percent said they recognized that their healthcoverage would provide sufficient security in the event of aserious accident or illness.

The difficulty in making the “right choice” is driven by thedesire to stick with the known, the survey showed.

“Workers’ concerns about their inability to meet healthcare-related financial obligations don’t necessarily translate intohow they choose a health insurance plan,” the report stated.“Nearly one-third (30 percent) of workers say monthly premiums arethe most important factor when selecting their major medical planeach year, while almost 1 in 4 (23 percent) state that they aremost concerned with whether their doctors/health providersparticipate in the plan.”

So that’s more than half of workers allowing the premium paymentand the desire to stick with practitioners they know steer themaway from looking more closely at what the HDHP coverage may truly cost them.

“Nearly half (46 percent) of employees selected a majormedical/health insurance plan with a high deductible of $1,000 ormore last year, up from 34 percent who said the same in 2014,”Aflac said.

While that may not be a strong indicator that folks arebeginning to understand the true cost of an HDHP, it must be statedthat more employers than ever are offering,and promoting, such plans to keep their own costs down.

“By spending more time researching their options so they betterunderstand what the insurance plan pays for and what they’re liablefor, consumers can make better choices and be better prepared for aserious health event,” said Matthew Owenby, senior vice president,chief human resources officer at Aflac. “Employers can help too byproviding additional options like a health savings account andvoluntary insurance to help employees pay for the deductibles andother out-of-pocket costs.”