Impacts of high-deductible health plans on patients with diabetes: A systematic review of the literature
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: High-deductible health plans (HDHPs) as a type of consumer-directed health insurance plan aim to control unnecessary service utilization and share the responsibility in payments and care with the patient. Our objective was to systematically pool the medical and non-medical impacts of HDHPs on patients with diabetes. METHODS: We searched databases, including PubMed, Scopus, Embase, and Wiley, to identify relevant published studies. We outlined the eligibility criteria based on the study population, intervention, comparison, outcome, and types of studies (PICOT). We included peer-reviewed quantitative studies published in English, including quasi-experimental, observational, and cross-sectional studies in this review. We used the narrative data synthesis method to categorize and interpret the results. RESULTS: Initial search yielded 149 results. After removing duplicates and screening for relevant titles and abstracts, and reviewing full texts, 11 studies met eligibility criteria. Overall, diabetic patients with HDHP were less likely to adhere to treatment and prescription refills, utilize fewer healthcare services and medications, and more likely to have acute emergency visits than their counterparts enrolled in low-deductible plans. However, the results on overall healthcare costs and the final health outcome were unclear. CONCLUSIONS: It appears that HDHPs negatively impact low-income diabetic patients by leading them to forgo preventive and primary care services and experience excessive preventable emergency department visits. The socioeconomic characteristics of patients must be considered when developing HDHP policies, and adjustments should be made to HDHPs accordingly.