Health Payer Intelligence: High-Deductible Plans Lead Diabetics to Forgo, Delay Treatment

Workers with diabetes who switched to high-deductible health plans requiring additional out-of-pocket expenses are more apt to put off necessary check-ups, a new Annals of Internal Medicine study finds. A growing proportion of Americans — including those with diabetes — have high-deductible health insurance plans in which they must pay up to about $1,000 to $7,000 out-of-pocket yearly if they use healthcare services, researchers note. The out-of-pocket costs of those who converted to higher-deductible plans jumped by an average of 43 percent to 53 percent compared to those who remained in low-deductible plans throughout the study. However, studies up to now haven’t clearly shown how this added cost might impact the degree to which people use healthcare. Read more at Health Payer Intelligence