Out-of-pocket costs with high deductible health plans may discourage some poor and chronically ill patients from getting needed care, a U.S. study of diabetics suggests. Overall, the switch to insurance with higher out-of-pocket costs wasn't tied to meaningful changes in how often these diabetics got outpatient checkups or tests to monitor their disease, researchers report in JAMA Internal Medicine. High-deductible health plans have been increasing over the last decade and are now the most common form of private health insurance, Wharam said. In high-deductible plans, primary care check-ups tend to have lower costs, but patients typically pay more for things like specialists, emergency department visits and hospital care. While high-deductible plans were associated with greater out-of-pocket costs than low-deductible options, this didn't translate into more frequent delayed or skipped care.

Source: Fox News January 12, 2017 14:44 UTC