Research Report State Efforts to Lower Cost-Sharing Barriers to Health Care for the Privately Insured
Sandy Ahn, Sabrina Corlette
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High deductibles have become a common health plan feature. While they can help lower premiums, they can also cause consumers to delay or forgo care. In this brief, the authors provide their findings from a 50-state survey of action to lower cost-sharing barriers to health care. Six states and DC have policies requiring insurers in the individual market to cover certain services pre-deductible, such as doctor’s visits and generic prescription drugs. In supplementary stakeholder interviews the authors found that states designed these plans to make high-value health care services more accessible and affordable, although data to assess the impact of predeductible coverage are not yet available. Although stakeholders identified challenges in the development of these plans, states’ open, public processes contributed to a generally smooth implementation.
Research Areas Health and health care
Tags Health insurance Private insurance
Policy Centers Health Policy Center