Study Shows That Some Forgo Medically Necessary Care Under Consumer-Driven Plans

A Rand Corp. study shows that while some people save money using consumer-driven health plans, patients with this type of health coverage are more likely to forgo medically necessary care. According to the Washington Post, employers who offer this type of plan to their employees enjoy a 25% reduction in health costs, while patients also save 4-15%. However, the study found that part of the reason why costs are going down is because patients are utilizing less health care. In some cases, this may not be such a bad thing, as it eliminates wasteful and unnecessary testing, for example. However, in other cases, this could endanger the health of the patient because he or she is not obtaining needed care. The average consumer is not equipped with the medical knowledge to know the difference between necessary and unnecessary care - yet the consumer is the one making decisions about where to spend his or her health dollars in this type of plan.

These consumer-driven health plans are usually linked to health savings accounts, or HSAs. For more information about HSAs, see my article on The ABCs of HSAs.