Sherry Glied Thinks Health Savings Accounts Have Outgrown Their Original Purpose

<p>High prices are an enduring feature of the United States health care system. Traditional market forces haven't seemed to bring them down, which leads some to wonder if we need a new approach.</p><p><br></p><p>Some may wonder, why not harness the purchasing behavior of consumers who provide downward cost pressure in pretty much every other sector of the economy?</p><p><br></p><p>Enter the idea of high-deductible health plans - health insurance with a high deductible which presumably should make consumers more careful with their purchases. </p><p><br></p><p>Sherry Glied from <a href="https://wagner.nyu.edu/">New York University</a> joins <em>A Health Podyssey</em> to discuss the role of high deductible health plans in creating health market efficiencies.</p><p><br></p><p>Glied and coauthors <a href="https://www.healthaffairs.org/doi/full/10.1377/hlthaff.2021.01954?utm_medium=podcast&amp;utm_source=a+health+podyssey&amp;utm_campaign=june2022issue&amp;utm_term=glied">published a paper in the June 2022 issue of <em>Health Affairs</em></a><em> </em>examining the evolution of high deductible plans and companion health savings accounts, which are tax-favored saving vehicles offered in conjunction with a high deductible plan.</p><p><br></p><p>They found that these plans no longer serve their original purpose of encouraging cost consciousness and reducing spending. Instead, they provide regressive tax breaks disproportionally used by higher income people. </p><p><a href="https://www.pubservice.com/backissue/subbi.aspx?CO=PJ&amp;PC=HR&amp;BI=HRI&amp;utm_medium=podcast&amp;utm_source=a+health+podyssey&amp;utm_campaign=44682&amp;utm_content=44682&amp;utm_term=glied">Order the June 2022 issue of <em>Health Affairs</em> for research on costs, care delivery, COVID-19, and more</a>.</p><p>Subscribe: <a href="https://feeds.transistor.fm/a-health-podyssey">RSS</a> | <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/a-health-podyssey/id1533852530">Apple Podcasts</a> | <a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/3tAEbXdlzlcgjLTHf