Skip to main content
Home
Segal Benz

Search form

  • What We Do
    • Our Work
    • Who We Serve
  • About Us
    • Team
    • Press
    • Speakers
    • Industry Insights
    • Careers
  • Insights
    • Blog
    • Resources
    • Coronavirus Resources
    • Events
    • Our Approach
  • Contact
hamMENU

You are here

Segal Benz  >  Insights  >  Blog  >  Health care jargon: “Preferred”
June 02, 2008

Health care jargon: “Preferred”

Jennifer Benz
SVP Communications Leader

It took a proofreader to remind me the other day about how confusing so much of health care jargon is out there. On a comparison chart, the edits noted “Wouldn’t it make sense that the preferred drugs are the most expensive?” The widely-adopted “preferred brand name” and “nonpreferred brand name” labels are very common in prescription drug benefits. But, preferred by whom? “Preferred” drugs are preferred by the plan because they are less expensive or have better outcomes than other brand name drugs that may be highly-advertised (and may be “preferred” by the patient) but more expensive for the plan. It is no wonder employees are confused by these labels—they are created from the perspective of the plan, not the patient.

Likewise, I’ve seen just as confusing of labels for health plans. For one company, the “Preferred Access” plan is actually the plan where you can see any doctor and the “Open Access” plan is an HMO where you have to stay in network—doesn’t sound very open to me!

I’d like more time and thought put into naming health plan benefits so that they actually make sense to the users of the benefits. So much time is spent explaining how plans work (in large part because little of it is intuitive) while we could be investing that time in teaching people how to be healthier overall.

Read next: 
Benefits websites: Get to the decision-maker
May 28: California Employer Advisor Audio Conference

Get Email Updates

Find out instantly when we post new insights to the blog!

SUBSCRIBE

Explore & Learn

Explore our library of free resources

LET'S GO

Read next: 
Benefits websites: Get to the decision-maker
May 28: California Employer Advisor Audio Conference
  • What We Do
  • About Us
  • Insights
  • Contact
  • Privacy
  • California Residents
  • Disclosure of Compensation

Work With Us

We partner with organizations that value their people first.

LET'S TALK

 

Meet the Family

We are proud to be part of the Segal family.

Segal | Segal Marco Advisors | Segal Canada

Segal Benz
180 Howard Street
Suite 1100
San Francisco, CA 94105
415-263-8200
© 2008–2022
LinkedIn Profile
Twitter Profile
Facebook Profile