Growth Of High-Deductible Plans Creates New Set Of Affordability Problems
Policy experts warn that workers will avoid medical care and struggle to pay the bills as more employer-provided health plans require a deductible of at least $2,000.
Modern Healthcare:
High Deductibles Clash With Care Coordination And Primary Care
High deductibles add to household financial stress and dissuade some patients from getting needed medical care. That is worrisome and could also block attempts to reform U.S. healthcare, health policy experts warn in the latest New England Journal of Medicine. High deductibles—an increasingly common feature of private health plans—require patients to spend hundreds or thousands of dollars to see doctors, fill prescriptions or get diagnostic tests before insurance will begin to pick up the bill. But experts and advocates have long argued that deductibles can be an indiscriminate way to get patients to stop and consider the price and necessity of medical care they seek. (Evans, 3/9)