Study: High deductible health plan enrollees’ out-of-pocket costs 1.5 times higher
BUSINESS RECORD STAFF Sep 13, 2016 | 4:09 pm
2 min read time
360 wordsAll Latest News, Health and WellnessEmployees with high-deductible health plans spent less money overall on health care and used fewer health care services than people with traditional employer-sponsored health plans, according to a new study from the Health Care Cost Institute.
The rub is that out-of-pocket spending by these consumers was 1.5 times higher on average than consumers without high-deductible or consumer-driven plans.
For example, people enrolled in consumer-driven health plans paid an annual average of $58 more out of pocket on visits to the doctor and $50 more on emergency room visits than their counterparts, while using roughly 8 and 10 percent fewer visits, respectively.
Consumer-driven health plans refer to those plans that have a high deductible and include either a health reimbursement account or a health savings account.
The study examined health care use and spending from 2010 to 2014 for people covered by employer-sponsored insurance and under 65 years of age who were enrolled in the consumer-driven plans. Enrollment in such planshas been steadily increasing in the employee-sponsored insurance population: More than 25 percent of employees had a consumer-driven plan in 2014, compared with 15 percent in 2010.
The higher out-of-pocket spending meant people enrolled in such high-deductible plans were responsible for nearly a quarter of their medical costs on average, compared with 14 percent for those enrolled in other plans. The study is based on fee-for-service claims provided by Aetna, Humana,and UnitedHealthcare for 40 million people per year who were covered by employer-sponsored plans.
Other key findings from the report:
- Annual total spending on health care for the high-deductible population was, on average, $520 less per capita than others in the study. In 2014, spending totaled $4,481 per consumer-driven plan person compared with $5,140 per person.
- Across the study period, people with consumer-driven plans used around 10 percent fewer health care services than the rest of the population, and used even fewer brand prescriptions (20 percent fewer filled days than others).
- On average, people with high-deductible plans spent $1,030 per person out of pocket annually on care, compared with $687 for the rest of the insured population.
The issue brief is to be published on the Health Care Cost Institute’s website today.
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