Although the theory behind deductibles is that if patients have more skin in the game they’ll spend less by shopping around, researchers are finding that they are just cutting back on getting care at all. In other news, narrower networks are causing families to lose access to therapists and providers for autism treatment.
As Americans this year signed up for new health care policies through their employers or the Affordable Care Act, many received an unwelcome tweak: even higher deductibles than in prior years. (Picchi, 2/8)
When Jennifer Nechetsky Maupin’s son was diagnosed with autism in May 2014, she and her husband quickly started looking into early intervention therapies for him. Their employers’ insurance plans offered limited coverage, so for 2015 the Houston family purchased an individual plan for their son on the marketplace set up by the federal health law. Because Texas mandates that individual plans must cover applied behavioral analysis (ABA) therapy, other parents of autistic children have made a similar choice. But many of those families are facing difficulties finding adequate coverage in 2016. (Harrington, 2/8)
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