Increased deductibles and co-payments are pushing employees toward lower cost health insurance plans

• Americans with employer-sponsored health insurance are becoming more willing to accept limits on their choice of providers in order to save on their medical expenses, a new study found.
• The amount of Americans with employer-provided coverage who would trade choice of doctors and hospitals for lower out-of-pocket costs rose to 59 percent in 2003 from 55 percent in 2001, according to a new study by the Center for Studying Health System Change.
• The jump is likely a result of employers increasingly shifting rising health care costs to their workers in the form of higher premiums, deductibles and co-payments for doctor visits and prescription drugs, said Paul Ginsburg, the president of the Center, a Washington D.C.-based policy research organization.
• Ginsburg said the survey results were surprising because consumer attitudes about a preference between choice and cost were stable through 1997 and 2001.
• Indeed, there was enormous consumer backlash against restrictive managed care policies during the 1990s, paving the way for plans with a wide array of options.
• But Ginsburg said employers have been increasing cost-sharing since 2002 and now consumers are feeling the pinch.
• The study found that low-income consumers were more likely to sacrifice choice to save on costs.
• Two-thirds of adults with income below $36,800, which was double the federal poverty line for a family of four in 2003, were willing to accept limitations.
• That compares with 54 percent of adults making at least $73,600, or 400 percent of the poverty level for a family of four.
• Despite the survey, Ginsburg doesn't see a rush back to strident managed care policies.
• A similar concept is already used in prescription drugs benefit plans that charge less for a generic than a name brand drug.