“When it comes to insured people, you sort of assume that people with high-quality, employer-sponsored coverage aren’t subject to high costs,” Adrion said.
For those with “consumer-directed” health plans—policies with high deductibles paired with personal savings accounts for employees to use when care isn't covered by insurance—the average out-of-pocket cost was approximately $1,200, about $600 less than for those with individual private plans.
“There’s a huge gap in people understanding different types of insurance plan designs,” said Dr. Brahmajee Nallamothu, a senior author of the study.
The study period ended just before the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, took effect in January 2014, but many of the trends have likely continued. A penalty for high premiums, known as the Cadillac tax, is also part of the ACA and is scheduled to go into effect in 2020, giving companies still more incentive to keep high-deductible plans. The 2015 Kaiser Family Foundation survey reported that 81 percent of people with employer-provided insurance have an annual deductible of about $1,300.
“You can assume that these trends continue onward,” Adrion said.