With soaring deductibles, American families are being pushed to the breaking point. In less than a generation, high deductibles have fueled an affordability crisis that is consuming middle-class households, as well as the poor and uninsured.
As high-deductible plans caught fire, however, many employers saw they could save even more by not contributing to their employees’ accounts.
And doctors, hospitals and clinics continue to make costs nearly impossible for patients to determine, according to consumer advocates, independent research and the Times/KFF survey. Two-thirds of surveyed workers said finding out the cost of a medical treatment or procedure was somewhat or very difficult.
Americans with chronic illnesses are more likely than healthy workers to say their insurance has gotten worse in recent years and less likely to feel the system works well for people like them, the poll found.In a major reversal from 15 years ago, six in 10 Americans with job-based coverage now call affordability the most important feature of a health plan, outranking previous top concerns such as a broad choice of doctors and hospitals and a wide range of benefits.
A growing number of healthcare officials, and even some corporate leaders, say it’s time to reassess the cost-sharing revolution.
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