,Small Businesses and Individuals Face Greater Cost Sharing and Increasing Complexity

Small Businesses and Individuals Face Greater Cost Sharing and Increasing Complexity


 

Publication Date: April 2002

Publisher: California HealthCare Foundation

Author(s): Joan Trauner; Katherine B. Wilson

Research Area: Health

Type: Brief

Coverage: California

Abstract:

Rising health care costs put pressure on health plans to develop, and purchasers to buy, health coverage with less comprehensive benefits and more cost sharing at the point of service. Purchasers that are particularly price sensitive, such as small businesses and individuals, are especially likely to feel this pressure. This analysis presents examples of changing benefits introduced to small businesses and individual purchasers between summer 2001 and spring 2002. It describes the complexity of some cost-sharing arrangements and explores the implications for consumers.