By using this site, you agree to the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.
Accept
Health Works CollectiveHealth Works CollectiveHealth Works Collective
  • Health
    • Mental Health
    Health
    Healthcare organizations are operating on slimmer profit margins than ever. One report in August showed that they are even lower than the beginning of the…
    Show More
    Top News
    bowl of vegetable salad
    Raw Foods: benefits and harms
    November 9, 2021
    pros and cons of the keto diet
    Read This Before You Follow the Keto Diet
    May 18, 2022
    spinal cord injuries
    4 Potential Causes of Spinal Cord Injuries (and How to Seek Compensation)
    May 25, 2022
    Latest News
    7 Most Common Healthcare Accreditation Programs: Which Should You Use?
    August 20, 2025
    Hospital Pest Control and the Fight Against Superbugs
    August 20, 2025
    Hygiene Beyond The Clinic: Attention To Overlooked Non-Clinical Spaces
    August 13, 2025
    5 Steps to a Promising Career as a Healthcare Administrator
    August 3, 2025
  • Policy and Law
    • Global Healthcare
    • Medical Ethics
    Policy and Law
    Get the latest updates about Insurance policies and Laws in the Healthcare industry for different geographical locations.
    Show More
    Top News
    Anti-Osteoporosis Therapy Is Gaining In Popularity—Here’s Why
    December 18, 2018
    Twitter Moves Markets: Can It Impact Disease?
    May 1, 2013
    The Link Between Sustainability And Health
    August 9, 2020
    Latest News
    How Social Security Disability Shapes Access to Care and Everyday Health
    August 20, 2025
    How a DUI Lawyer Can Help When Your Future Health Feels Uncertain
    August 20, 2025
    How One Fall Can Lead to a Long Road of Medical Complications
    August 20, 2025
    How IT and Marketing Teams Can Collaborate to Protect Patient Trust
    July 17, 2025
  • Medical Innovations
  • News
  • Wellness
  • Tech
Search
© 2023 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
Reading: How High-Deductible Insurance Fuels Momentous Healthcare Shifts
Share
Notification Show More
Font ResizerAa
Health Works CollectiveHealth Works Collective
Font ResizerAa
Search
Follow US
  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy
© 2023 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
Health Works Collective > Policy & Law > Health Reform > How High-Deductible Insurance Fuels Momentous Healthcare Shifts
BusinessHealth ReformPolicy & Law

How High-Deductible Insurance Fuels Momentous Healthcare Shifts

Stewart Gandolf
Stewart Gandolf
Share
5 Min Read
affordable healthcare
SHARE

affordable healthcareAlthough the Affordable Care Act (ACA), in its final, amended version, has been the law of the land for slightly more than five years, the industry-shaking consequence of “healthcare reform,” continue to emerge almost daily.

affordable healthcareAlthough the Affordable Care Act (ACA), in its final, amended version, has been the law of the land for slightly more than five years, the industry-shaking consequence of “healthcare reform,” continue to emerge almost daily.

There have probably been more significant changes in the nation’s healthcare delivery system—for providers, hospitals, employers and health insurance—between 2010 and today, than in the preceding decade or two. And about the only certainty going forward is that little is settled, and change will continue to be the order of the day.

That said, highly significant trends have emerged, and they are changing how we do things in medicine and marketing. Further changes notwithstanding, hospital and health care administrators and communications professionals need to monitor these shifts closely.

More Read

Revenue Cycle News
Telemedicine’s Impact on Value-based Care
UPDATED POST: Salami Tactics and IRS 501(r)
The Olympics, Doctors, NHS, Transformation, and Heroes: Why the Difference between USA and UK?
The Effectiveness of SEO vs. PPC in Physician Marketing Plans
Your 2015 Checklist for The Joint Commission (TJC)

High deductibles are reducing patient compliance. In the rollout of ACA (also known as Obamacare), the individual consumer (previously referred to as the patient), is expected to shoulder more of the costs for medical services. And many consumers opt for high-deductible coverage as a tradeoff for lower premiums.

What’s more, this trend among consumers with high deductible plans emerged ahead of the ACA. According to a RAND Corporation study, “while such plans significantly cut health spending, they also prompt patients to cut back on preventive health care.

“Among those with high-deductible health plans, spending was lower on both inpatient and outpatient medical services, as well as prescription drugs.”

Middle class patients are cost-conscious and reluctant buyers. Handing a greater share of cost to patients has caused a tightening of both the purse strings and care. “[Healthcare] costs are crippling the middle class,” reports USA Today in an in-depth report. “Rather than pay so much out-of-pocket, many skip checkups and scrimp on care.”

The publication cited a Commonwealth Fund survey that found “four in 10 working-age adults skipped some kind of care because of cost, and other surveys have found much the same.”

One such previous study by Thomson Reuters, reported in ManagedCare, found that “an increasing number of patients are postponing medical care because of cost, and that includes people with high deductibles. Among those that postponed or canceled care, 24.1 percent cited cost as the primary reason.

“One in five US households postponed or canceled medical care during the prior year, up from 15.9 percent in 2006, when the survey last addressed this problem. The majority of postponed services (54.7 percent) were for physician visits, followed by imaging (8 percent), non-elective procedures (6.3 percent), and lab or diagnostic tests (5.7 percent).

The bottom line for health care providers…

Market forces, including the ACA and the less-than-robust economy, are applying downward pressure on middle class and high deductible coverage patients. And informed patients who do seek care are increasingly questioning costs and seeking the greatest value in their healthcare spending.

There’s no simple solution, and change will continue. In the face of these trends, however, marketing, advertising and other outreach efforts are still reliable tools to engage prospective patients, open communications channels, and reinforce the preventive care and compliance.

In addition, physicians increasingly need to shape expectations and to communicate patient benefits, affordability and good value in healthy decisions for themselves and their family members.

For more on this topic, see related reading:

  • Transparency: How Healthcare Cost Competes With Real Value
  • New Consumerism in Healthcare Marketing 
 

The post How High-Deductible Insurance Fuels Momentous Healthcare Shifts appeared first on Healthcare Success.

TAGGED:deductiblesHealthcarehealthcare reformPhysicians
Share This Article
Facebook Copy Link Print
Share

Stay Connected

1.5kFollowersLike
4.5kFollowersFollow
2.8kFollowersPin
136kSubscribersSubscribe

Latest News

engineer fitting prosthetic arm
How Social Security Disability Shapes Access to Care and Everyday Health
Health care
August 20, 2025
a woman explaining the document
How a DUI Lawyer Can Help When Your Future Health Feels Uncertain
Public Health
August 20, 2025
physiotherapist at work
How One Fall Can Lead to a Long Road of Medical Complications
Health care
August 20, 2025
Common Healthcare Accreditation Programs
7 Most Common Healthcare Accreditation Programs: Which Should You Use?
Health News
August 20, 2025

You Might also Like

Healthcare’s Most Disruptive: Next-Gen Genomics, Memory Implants

June 19, 2013

Medicare Quiz from Kaiser: Almost Everyone Can Learn Something

February 4, 2012

TEDMED Day #1, Light on Medicine, High on Inspiration

April 11, 2012

AMA: Pay Docs for Care Coordination

October 11, 2011
Subscribe
Subscribe to our newsletter to get our newest articles instantly!
Follow US
© 2008-2025 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy
Welcome Back!

Sign in to your account

Username or Email Address
Password

Lost your password?