high-deductible health plans
lborkowski | February 1, 2016For some people with employer-sponsored health insurance, a new calendar year means a new healthcare plan. In recent years, many employers have encouraged employees to consider high-deductible health plans – or, in some cases, have made an HDHP the only option. These plans’ premiums tend to be lower than those of other plans, but require enrollees to cover the full cost of most care until they’ve met the deductible. In 2014, the average HDHP deductible was $2,099 for an individual and $4,332 for a family.
Economists have suggested that people with traditional insurance coverage over-consume…
lborkowski | October 26, 2015The US spends far more on healthcare than other advanced countries, but we have worse health outcomes. Ideally, we could slow the growth of healthcare spending and improve outcomes by investing in prevention, creating incentives for providers to give high-value care, and eliminating care that’s unnecessary or harmful. While many of the efforts to achieve these goals involve arrangements between payers and providers, some also target consumers. However, as two recent pieces by Vox’s Sarah Kliff make clear, it’s hard to turn healthcare consumers into the kind of savvy shoppers who can contain…