Sherry Glied Thinks Health Savings Accounts Have Outgrown Their Original Purpose

High prices are an enduring feature of the United States health care system. Traditional market forces haven't seemed to bring them down, which leads some to wonder if we need a new approach.

Some may wonder, why not harness the purchasing behavior of consumers who provide downward cost pressure in pretty much every other sector of the economy?

Enter the idea of high-deductible health plans - health insurance with a high deductible which presumably should make consumers more careful with their purchases. 

Sherry Glied from New York University joins A Health Podyssey to discuss the role of high deductible health plans in creating health market efficiencies.

Glied and coauthors published a paper in the June 2022 issue of Health Affairs examining the evolution of high deductible plans and companion health savings accounts, which are tax-favored saving vehicles offered in conjunction with a high deductible plan.

They found that these plans no longer serve their original purpose of encouraging cost consciousness and reducing spending. Instead, they provide regressive tax breaks disproportionally used by higher income people.

Order the June 2022 issue of Health Affairs for research on costs, care delivery, COVID-19, and more.

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