The abstract from PLOS One on the effects of health insurance was very good.
I do not have the time (or skill) to review it completely, but the article did raise one issue that interests me.
The article seemed to say that high-deductible health insurance does not reduce health care spending very much at all.
The actuarial reason is fairly simple — which is, that most spending in any health plan takes place way above the deductible.
In other words, persons with a $5,000 deductible have about the same number of heart attack and cancer cases, versus persons with a $500 deductible. Yes, the insurer pays out $4500 more for the low-deductible person, but this is not a major factor in health care spending.
One could conclude that high-deductible health insurance introduces a financial cruelty that does not reduce the overall cost of health care.
The abstract from PLOS One on the effects of health insurance was very good.
I do not have the time (or skill) to review it completely, but the article did raise one issue that interests me.
The article seemed to say that high-deductible health insurance does not reduce health care spending very much at all.
The actuarial reason is fairly simple — which is, that most spending in any health plan takes place way above the deductible.
In other words, persons with a $5,000 deductible have about the same number of heart attack and cancer cases, versus persons with a $500 deductible. Yes, the insurer pays out $4500 more for the low-deductible person, but this is not a major factor in health care spending.
One could conclude that high-deductible health insurance introduces a financial cruelty that does not reduce the overall cost of health care.