More 'skin in the game' doesn't make HDHP consumers any savvier

Overall, 58 percent of respondents said they had an account to put aside money for medical expenses, but only 40 percent of the entire sample had actually saved any money in those accounts. (Photo: Shutterstock)

High-deductible health plans are supposed to encourage consumers to shop around for cheaper health care services or put money away to pay for what they need. But it’s not working that way, according to a new study published in JAMA Internal Medicine by a team from the University of Michigan Institute for Healthcare Policy and Innovation.

An Insurance Journal report says that even though such plans are becoming more common, workers with high-deductible health plans aren’t taking any of the actions one might expect them to take—from actually putting money into an HDHP savings account to checking for the best prices to trying to negotiate better rates, or even just talking to their doctors about costs. And even when they do, they’re not getting the help they need.