Friday, August 30, 2013

Mead: High Deductible Plans Creating Health Care Slowdown

Walter Russell Mead notes: "High Deductible Plans Creating Health Care Slowdown".

Although I don't think we should be seeking global "cost control" as a primary goal, individuals spending their own money based are doing precisely that. 

From his post:
So, these savings have little to do with Obamacare either way. Instead, they stem from exactly the kind of high-deductible, catastrophic plans that the ACA seeks to limit. The data simply points to a very intuitive principle: one of the best ways to make overall health care spending go down is for more individuals to spend less on it.
For many people, a high-deductible plan coupled with Health Savings Accounts allows them to best protect their health and their pocketbook according to their best individual judgment of their needs.