RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Sticker Shock: The Experience of a Health Care Consumer
JF The Annals of Family Medicine
JO Ann Fam Med
FD American Academy of Family Physicians
SP 270
OP 272
DO 10.1370/afm.1921
VO 14
IS 3
A1 Grande, David
YR 2016
UL http://www.annfammed.org/content/14/3/270.abstract
AB With implementation of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, more Americans are gaining insurance coverage but often have high deductibles and significant out-of-pocket cost sharing. Deductibles routinely exceed $1,000 and often approach $5,000. In this essay, I share our family’s experience attempting to navigate urgent medical decisions in a high-deductible health plan. In accessing urgent care for our child’s fracture, we unknowingly encountered a 10-fold variation for what should be routine, low-cost technology (ie, plain film x-ray). Though the financial consequences for our family were minimal, for many families with high-deductible plans the financial implications are enormous. Through this experience, I learned that the principles of consumer-directed health care—that patients can and should price shop for care—are flawed in urgent and emergent situations.