Time Aggregation in Health Insurance Deductibles

Abstract

and the University of Arizona for helpful comments. The views expressed herein are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Bureau of Economic Research.NBER working papers are circulated for discussion and comment purposes. They have not been peer-reviewed or been subject to the review by the NBER Board of Directors that accompanies official NBER publications.

Changes in Out-of-Pocket Costs for US Hospital Admissions Between December and January Every Year

“…3 , 4 Thus, these results resonate with recent reports of the benefits of resetting out-of-pocket costs or deductibles at shorter intervals throughout the year. 5 , 6 Additionally, as the value of care commands greater attention from payers and policy makers, these findings underscore that inappropriate or low-value hospitalizations at the beginning of the year, particularly those involving ICU services, place a large financial burden on patients. A study limitation was the focus on hospitalizations of patients with employer-sponsored insurance; thus, the findings may not be generalizable to other populations.…”

Monthly Cost-Sharing Limits and Out-of-pocket Costs for Commercially Insured Patients in the US

“…The findings of this cross-sectional study suggest that capping monthly out-of-pocket costs could meaningfully reduce the cost-sharing burden for many commercially insured patients in the US without regulating health care prices. Others exploring the concept of resetting deductibles have found potential value gains, particularly for lower-income patients . On the other hand, moral hazard might increase inefficient health care use as a result of lower cost-sharing.…”

“…Others exploring the concept of resetting deductibles have found potential value gains, particularly for lower-income patients. 6 On the other hand, moral hazard might increase inefficient health care use as a result of lower cost-sharing. A limitation of this study is that it holds spending constant and does not account for potential behavioral responses by patients to reduced cost-sharing obligations, which could increase overall health care spending.However, the preponderance of evidence suggests that underconsumption of health care because of cost is a substantially more pressing problem.…”