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Editor's Note

Editor's Note An important trend in the nation’s health insurance system is that consumers are being asked to pay for more of the cost of their coverage, including a higher percentage of premiums, higher deductibles before coverage begins, and higher co-payments for covered services. Among the rationales for this trend are that cost sharing will make consumers more savvy and more cost conscious in seeking health care and that any reduced utilization is unlikely to have an adverse impact on health. Indeed, this is the lesson of the well-known RAND Health Insurance Experiment (Manning et al. 1987), which considered the impact of co-payments on utilization and outcomes. In the lead article in this issue of the Journal of Health Politics, Policy and Law, John Nyman challenges the RAND findings and suggests that, while increased cost sharing will lead to reduced utilization, the assumption that cost shifting will not have an adverse impact is wrong. The trend toward more “consumer-directed health plans” is also likely to lead consumers to look to the courts and the states for legal protection. How effective is judicial oversight likely to be? Peter Jacobson, Richard Rettig, and Wade Aubry are not optimistic. Their article examines whether http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Journal of Health Politics, Policy and Law Duke University Press

Editor's Note

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Publisher
Duke University Press
Copyright
© 2007 by Duke University Press
ISSN
0361-6878
eISSN
0361-6878
DOI
10.1215/03616878-2007-028
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

An important trend in the nation’s health insurance system is that consumers are being asked to pay for more of the cost of their coverage, including a higher percentage of premiums, higher deductibles before coverage begins, and higher co-payments for covered services. Among the rationales for this trend are that cost sharing will make consumers more savvy and more cost conscious in seeking health care and that any reduced utilization is unlikely to have an adverse impact on health. Indeed, this is the lesson of the well-known RAND Health Insurance Experiment (Manning et al. 1987), which considered the impact of co-payments on utilization and outcomes. In the lead article in this issue of the Journal of Health Politics, Policy and Law, John Nyman challenges the RAND findings and suggests that, while increased cost sharing will lead to reduced utilization, the assumption that cost shifting will not have an adverse impact is wrong. The trend toward more “consumer-directed health plans” is also likely to lead consumers to look to the courts and the states for legal protection. How effective is judicial oversight likely to be? Peter Jacobson, Richard Rettig, and Wade Aubry are not optimistic. Their article examines whether

Journal

Journal of Health Politics, Policy and Law – Duke University Press

Published: Oct 1, 2007

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