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By: Dan Mangan Your less expensive health insurance plan could cost you — even if you use less health care. People in so-called consumer-driven health plans tend to use fewer medical services than people with other types of coverage, a new study finds. But they also tend to spend substantially more out of their own pocket at the same time, both in dollar terms and as a share of their overall healt...

This data brief examines the health care use and spending from 2010-2014 for people who are enrolled in consumer-driven health plans (CDHPs), and compares these trends to non-CDHP enrollees. Findings indicate that although fewer total dollars were spent on health care for CDHP enrollees, they had higher per capita out-of-pocket spending on deductibles, copays, and coinsurance.    Downloa...

ABSTRACT Importance: Patients' out-of-pocket spending for major health care expenses, such as inpatient care, may result in substantial financial distress. Limited contemporary data exist on out-of-pocket spending among nonelderly adults. Objectives: To evaluate out-of-pocket spending associated with hospitalizations and to assess how this spending varied over time and by patient characteristics, ...

This issue brief examines health care spending on shoppable services in 2011. Contrary to expectations, giving consumers prices so they can shop for health care services may only have a modest effect on reducing health spending.   Key Findings: ​In 2011, about 43% of the $524.2 billion spent on health care services for commercially insured people was considered shoppable.About 15%—nearly...

The 2014 Health Care Cost and Utilization Report tracks changes in health care prices, utilization, and spending for people younger than 65 covered by employer-sponsored health insurance (ESI). The 2014 Health Care Cost and Utilization Report shows that spending per privately insured person grew 3.4% in 2014, with more dollars going to brand-name drugs than in prior years.   Download Report A...

This issue brief examines health care spending for adults and children with diabetes relative to those without diabetes, both in terms of total per capita health care spending and out-of-pocket costs from 2009-2013.  Key Findings:  ​ In 2013, $14,999 was spent per capita on health care for people with diabetes.Per capita health care spending for children with diabetes rose 7% from 2...

This data brief looks at per capita out-of-pocket spending rates nationally and statewide and examines average differences in consumer prices for a set of five common medical procedures: office visit for the evaluation of a new patient, colonoscopy, cataract removal, lower leg MRI; and ultrasound for pregnancy nationally and in nine states: Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Maryland, New Jersey...

The 2013 Health Care Cost and Utilization Report shows that spending per privately insured grew 3.9% in 2013, as falling utilization offset rising prices. The 2013 Health Care Cost and Utilization Report tracks changes in health care prices, utilization, and spending for people younger than 65 covered by employer-sponsored health insurance (ESI).   Download Report Appendix Tables  Key Fi...

This issue brief accompanies the 2013 Spending Cost & Utilization Report and examines trends in out-of-pocket expenditures per capita for the national, younger than age 65 population covered by employer-sponsored insurance for the period of 2011 through 2013.    Download PDF File Here

The Children's Health Care Spending: 2009-2012 report shows that spending on health care for privately insured children increased between 2009 and 2012, rising an average 5.5 percent a year, with more dollars spent on boys than girls, and higher spending on infants and toddlers (ages 0-3) than any other children's age group.   Download Report Appendix Tables Issue Brief Key Findings ​Per capi...

ABSTRACT Little is known about the trends in health care spending for the 156 million Americans who are younger than age sixty-five and enrolled in employer-sponsored health insurance. Using a new source of health insurance claims data, we estimated per capita spending, utilization, and prices for this population between 2007 and 2011. During this period per capita spending on employer-sponsored i...

Health Care Costs from Birth to Death examines health care spending from birth to age 90 for people covered by commercial health insurance and for those covered by Medicare fee-for-service. The research sponsored by the Society of Actuaries (SOA) using data from the Health Care Cost Institute (HCCI) estimates that the average 55-year-old retiree will spend about $226,000 more out of pocket on heal...

 The Health Care Cost and Utilization Report: 2011 provides the first broad look at 2011 health care spending among those with employer-sponsored insurance (ESI). HCCI found that average dollars spent on health care services for that population climbed 4.6 percent in 2011, reaching $4,547 per person. This was well above the 3.8 percent growth rate observed in 2010. Download Report Appendix Ta...

A summary of HCCI's 2011 Health Care Cost and Utilization Report.    Download PDF File Here

This research brief highlights findings from the Health Care Cost Institute's (HCCI) Children's Health Care Spending Report: 2007—2010.    Download PDF File Here