These delays in preventative care, including procedures like blood tests, colonoscopies and mammograms, may lead to an increase in emergency department visits or hospital admissions. A recent study by UCLA’s Center for Health Policy Research found more than 16 percent of Californians with high deductibles avoided doctors and specialists to dodge costs, some deductibles as high as $10,000.
Although the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act removes deductibles for preventative care, it does not cover all health insurance plans. Only new health plans, those established on or after Sept. 23, 2010, are required to cover and eliminate co-pays, deductibles and coinsurance amounts for preventative services.
Last month, a study found eliminating health insurance deductibles for screening tests modestly improved the use of preventative care procedures such as blood-cholesterol tests, Pap smears and mammograms.
A physician cited in the report calls the high deductible and medical avoidance trend a “tragedy” because it has resulted in patients acquiring fatal diseases that could have been prevented. Physicians and hospitals say the costs can be devastating when patients become sick. Still, the number of workers nationwide with individual deductibles of at least $1,000 has tripled over the past four years, reaching approximately 20 million, according to the report.
Healthcare advocates don’t completely disapprove of high-deductible plans, however. Some say they can be practical if tied to “health savings accounts,” allowing policyholders to set aside tax-deductible funds for medical expenses. More than 10 million people participate in such an arrangement, which was first introduced in 2004.
Read the Los Angeles Times report on high-deductible health insurance.
Read more about health insurance and hospitals:
–High-Performance Networks on the Rise Despite Physicians’ Uncertainty on Methodology
–Eliminating Deductible Modestly Improved Screening Rates
