Study: Cheaper Health Plans Save Money, Cut Care
High-deductible health plans, a cornerstone of many companies' efforts to fight rising insurance costs, may harm participants' health, according to a new study by RAND Corp.
The findings, published in the American Journal of Managed Care, are based on a study of more than 800,000 families across the country between 2004 and 2005.
When families switched to plans with deductibles of $1,000 or more per person, their health spending dropped 14 percent on average, compared to their counterparts with lower deductibles. However, their use of preventative care also dropped, with families missing childhood immunizations and cancer and diabetes screenings.
Preventative care dropped even though the plans in the study waived the deductible for such care, suggesting that participants may not have understood that policy, study co-author Amelia M. Haviland said in a statement.
The study also found that deductibles must be quite high to effectively reduce spending. Families with per-person deductibles between $500 and $999 did not spend significantly less than those with traditional plans.
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