Debt Free News

Consumers are weaseling on health care

December 8, 2006

A new study in the US says that the insured people in this country that are getting health plans containing high deductibles (put in place to bring awareness of costs and reduce unneeded services) are really scrimping on their own healthcare.

These health care plans charge higher deductibles in exchange for lower insurance premiums and more inexpensive precautionary health care services in order to cut overall healthcare costs. Additionally, they provide offer a tax deferred savings account that can be used for care.

However, the new study contends that they have not been able to draw in the uninsured more than traditional healthcare plans do. The study also found that the people who were in the plans were more apt to cut back on basic care like prescribed medicines or visits to a doctor.

The Employee Benefits Research Program (EBRP) surveyed some 3,158 adults in the study. EBRP is a private not for profit group that is funded by large employers, as well as the not for profit research group Commonwealth Fund.

These days, it seems that companies are interested in the long term prospects of these plans simply to cut their costs of providing healthcare. We will have to wait and see though what the actual effects on costs are. So far, they are not attracting large numbers of uninsured people.

Many critics say the health care plans draw the healthiest people and leave sicker people in the wider insurance group. This will raise overall health care costs. You will also here critics saying that these health care plans, which typically have a deductible of about $1000, are simply too costly for the underprivileged and uninsured anyway.

The study also showed that individuals in the health care plans were less likely to experience chronic illnesses like diabetes that create higher health care expenses.

Some major US health insurers are endorsing the health care plans as a plan for employers to control double digit increases in the cost of health care provisions.

It is being reported that in 2006, nearly 8% of the privately insured populace was covered by a high deductible plan. This is the same percentage as 2005. Additionally, 1% of the people enrolled in the health care plans opted for a tax deferred savings account. These accounts are meant to be spent on preventive care and typical health maintenance people need such as testing for diabetes and for women to get mammograms.

We want to mention that this health care study was done in September and carries a margin of error of plus or minus 3%

As we can surely see now, in the past, it has taken considerable time for the public to adhere to health maintenance organizations and preferred provider plans. Today, these are the most popular types of insurance coverage.

Yet, skeptics will tell you that the plans are just too costly for the uninsured and the underprivileged. Almost 50% of the individuals with the plans did not sign up for the tax deferred savings account for preventive care simply because it was an affordability issue.

These health care plans have been touted as a way of defeating the rising number of uninsured individuals living in the US. The number of people in the US without any health care coverage is a staggering 46.6 million. This is the same as saying 16% of the people you see walking around each day have no health care coverage.

The EBRP’s study also shows that people without health care insurance were more likely to sign up for HMOs or PPOs.

Hospitals say the health care plans are only adding to their tally of unpaid medical bills or the bad debt they are now carrying. Hospitals, in general, say that the people with these high deductible plans are not prepared to pay these high deductibles and they end up not paying their deductible because of it.

Also worth mentioning to our debt free news article reader is that the study also found that because of these higher deductibles, consumers are less happy with the health care plans compared to the people who have standard healthcare plans.

(697)