Friday, February 1, 2013

High-Deductible Health Plans

Rand Corporation completed an assessment on high-deductible health plans and 800,000 families were studied across the United States. Some key highlights of the study were as follows:
  • Spending dropped 14% when they had a higher deductible
  • Spending was lower when the individual had a high-deductible plan.
  • When the individual had employer contributions contributing to more than half their deductible, savings decreased.
  •  Costs went down dramatically the first year people had a high-deductible plan 
  • High-deductible and consumer-directed plans help control health care costs
  • Patients in the study also reduced their preventive care visits (to reduce their spending) but down the road this could be costly as they could have worsening health problems
  • Under the Federal Patient Protection Affordable Care Act (ACA) health plan deductibles must be waived when there is preventative treatments. 
  • In the short run high-deductible plans are working but they discourage people from getting preventative care.  
To read the full article, please click the following link: High-Deductible Health Plans Finds Substantial Cost Savings, but Less Preventative Care

For additional billing and coding resources, please click the following link: Medical Reimbursement Billing and Coding Resources

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