{"database":"biostudies-literature","file_versions":[],"scores":null,"additional":{"submitter":["Cliff BQ"],"funding":["Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality","NCATS NIH HHS","AHRQ HHS","Horowitz Foundation for Social Policy"],"pagination":["27-36"],"full_dataset_link":["https://www.ebi.ac.uk/biostudies/studies/S-EPMC8763287"],"repository":["biostudies-literature"],"omics_type":["Unknown"],"volume":["57(1)"],"pubmed_abstract":["

Objective

To test whether out-of-pocket costs and negotiated hospital prices for childbirth change after enrollment in high-deductible health plans (HDHPs) and whether price effects differ in markets with more hospitals.

Data sources

Administrative medical claims data from 2010 to 2014 from three large commercial insurers with plans in all U.S. states provided by the Health Care Cost Institute (HCCI).

Study design

I identify employer groups that switched from non-HDHPs in 1 year to HDHPs in a subsequent year. I estimate enrollees' change in out-of-pocket costs and negotiated hospital prices for childbirth after HDHP switch, relative to a comparison group of employers that do not switch plans. I use a triple-difference design to estimate price changes for enrollees in markets with more hospital choices. Finally, I re-estimate models with hospital-fixed effects.

Data collection

From the HCCI sample, childbearing women enrolled in an employer-sponsored plan with at least 10 people.

Principal findings

Switching to an HDHP increases out-of-pocket cost $227 (p < 0.001; comparison group base $790) and has no meaningful effect on hospital-negotiated prices (-$26, p = 0.756; comparison group base $5821). HDHP switch is associated with a marginally statistically significant price increase in markets with three or fewer hospitals ($343, p = 0.096; comparison group base $5806) and, relative to those markets, with a price decrease in markets with more than three hospitals (-$512; p = 0.028). Predicted prices decrease from $5702 to $5551 after HDHP switch in markets with more than three hospitals due primarily to lower prices conditional on using the same hospital.

Conclusions

Prices for childbirth in markets with more hospitals decrease after HDHP switch due to lower hospital prices for HDHPs relative to prices at those same hospitals for non-HDHPs. These results reinforce previous findings that HDHPs do not promote price shopping but suggest negotiated prices may be lower for HDHP enrollees."],"journal":["Health services research"],"pubmed_title":["Do high-deductible health plans affect price paid for childbirth?"],"pmcid":["PMC8763287"],"funding_grant_id":["KL2 TR002002","R36 HS025614","R36HS025614"],"pubmed_authors":["Cliff BQ"],"additional_accession":[]},"is_claimable":false,"name":"Do high-deductible health plans affect price paid for childbirth?","description":"

Objective

To test whether out-of-pocket costs and negotiated hospital prices for childbirth change after enrollment in high-deductible health plans (HDHPs) and whether price effects differ in markets with more hospitals.

Data sources

Administrative medical claims data from 2010 to 2014 from three large commercial insurers with plans in all U.S. states provided by the Health Care Cost Institute (HCCI).

Study design

I identify employer groups that switched from non-HDHPs in 1 year to HDHPs in a subsequent year. I estimate enrollees' change in out-of-pocket costs and negotiated hospital prices for childbirth after HDHP switch, relative to a comparison group of employers that do not switch plans. I use a triple-difference design to estimate price changes for enrollees in markets with more hospital choices. Finally, I re-estimate models with hospital-fixed effects.

Data collection

From the HCCI sample, childbearing women enrolled in an employer-sponsored plan with at least 10 people.

Principal findings

Switching to an HDHP increases out-of-pocket cost $227 (p < 0.001; comparison group base $790) and has no meaningful effect on hospital-negotiated prices (-$26, p = 0.756; comparison group base $5821). HDHP switch is associated with a marginally statistically significant price increase in markets with three or fewer hospitals ($343, p = 0.096; comparison group base $5806) and, relative to those markets, with a price decrease in markets with more than three hospitals (-$512; p = 0.028). Predicted prices decrease from $5702 to $5551 after HDHP switch in markets with more than three hospitals due primarily to lower prices conditional on using the same hospital.

Conclusions

Prices for childbirth in markets with more hospitals decrease after HDHP switch due to lower hospital prices for HDHPs relative to prices at those same hospitals for non-HDHPs. These results reinforce previous findings that HDHPs do not promote price shopping but suggest negotiated prices may be lower for HDHP enrollees.","dates":{"release":"2022-01-01T00:00:00Z","publication":"2022 Feb","modification":"2025-04-05T09:05:10.241Z","creation":"2025-04-05T09:05:10.241Z"},"accession":"S-EPMC8763287","cross_references":{"pubmed":["34254295"],"doi":["10.1111/1475-6773.13702"]}}