Success of Health Savings Accounts & high-deductible insurance

Posted on August 22, 2009 by Brian Schwartz

Alex Tabarrok summarizes the results of a study by the The American Academy of Actuaries: Emerging Data on Consumer-Driven Health Plans.

  • Cost-savings: 12% to 21% in the first year.
  • Cost containment: Compared to traditional insurance with higher deductible, costs appear to increase more slowly.
  • Proper and preventive care. Quoting the report: “Generally, all of the studies indicated that cost savings did not result from avoidance of inappropriate care and that necessary care was received in equal or greater degree relative to traditional plans.  All of the studies reported a significant increase in preventative services for CDH participants.”
  • Evidence-based care: “…some of the studies found that CDH plans resulted in better compliance with evidence-based care,” writes Tabborok.  (No, I’m not implying that evidence-based medicine is necessarily a good thing.)

And no, I am not saying that high-deductible insurance plans are right for everyone. Government should not punish people for buying them by enforcing a tax code that encourages people to buy excess insurance.  Nor should government make high-deductible plans illegal, as Massachusetts has.

Read the whole post about cost savings and consumer driven health plans.

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