Dive Brief:
- Between 2009 and 2013, cost sharing for hospitalizations increased an average of 37% from $738 to $1,013, reported a new study from the University of Michigan.
- The change was primarily the result of an 86% increase in deductibles and a 33% increase in coinsurance, the researchers found.
- As of 2013, total cost sharing was highest for those with individual market plans at $1,875 per hospitalization, and consumer-directed health plans at $1,219.
Dive Insight:
The data illustrate just how much employers are shifting costs to patients, with the mean out-of-pocket hospitalization cost for insured adults exceeding $1,000 as of 2013.
The researchers suggest the sharp increase in recent years could leave many patients surprised to learn what they owe after a hospital stay -- especially those with employer-based plans who expect a higher level of financial protection.
"People tend to assume they're fine, they'll be covered and will not be responsible for any sort of high cost when they're hospitalized," lead study author Emily Adrion told the Chicago Tribune. "Most people expected they wouldn't have to pay much if they were hospitalized."
The findings were based on an analysis of medical claims for 7.3 million hospital stays between 2009 and 2013, with data from Aetna, UnitedHealthcare and Humana. The annual growth rate for out-of-pocket spending during that time was 6.5%, which beat the 5.1% growth rate for premiums and 2.9% growth rate for healthcare spending.
Ben Isgur, director, PwC Health Research Institute at PricewaterhouseCoopers, recently told Healthcare Dive the end of high deductible, high cost-sharing plans are nigh. "That strategy has kind of run it's course," he says, adding, "Employers are telling us that they can’t push any more cost-sharing down to their employees."
He and his colleagues believe high performance networks will be the next big strategy to control spending.