Health Affairs, 25, no. 6 (2006): 1529-1536 doi: 10.1377/hlthaff.25.6.1529 © 2006 by Project HOPE	New Online   House Health Reform Bill   Paying for Reform   Vetting AHIP's Report   HIV/AIDS Costs   Brief: Insurance Reform   HA Blog Top 10

This Article Full Text (HTML) Reprint (PDF) Submit a response to this article Alert me when this article is cited Alert me when Comments are posted Alert me if a correction is posted Services E-mail this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in Web of Science Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to My Personal Archive Download to Citation Manager Reprints & Permissions Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Web of Science (6) Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Busch, S. H. Articles by Cullen, M. R. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Busch, S. H. Articles by Cullen, M. R. Related Collections Health Promotion/Disease Prevention Insurance Coverage Insurance - Employer-Based System Business Of Health Consumer Issues Insurance Market

Strategies

Effects Of A Cost-Sharing Exemption On Use Of Preventive Services At One Large Employer

In 2004, Alcoa introduced a new health benefit for a portion of its workforce, which eliminated cost sharing for preventive care while increasing cost sharing for many other services. In this era of increased consumerism, Alcoa’s benefit redesign constituted an effort to reduce health care costs while preserving use of targeted services. Taking advantage of a unique natural experiment, we find that Alcoa was able to maintain rates of preventive service use. This evidence suggests that differential cost sharing can be used to preserve the use of critical health care services.

                      What's this?

This article has been cited by other articles:

				C. L. Barry, M. R. Cullen, D. Galusha, M. D. Slade, and S. H. Busch Who Chooses A Consumer-Directed Health Plan? Health Aff., November 1, 2008; 27(6): 1671 - 1679. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				A. P. Mahajan and R. H. Brook High-Deductible Health Plans and Better Benefit Design Ann Intern Med, May 6, 2008; 148(9): 704 - 706. [Full Text] [PDF]

				J. W. Rowe, T. Brown-Stevenson, R. L. Downey, and J. P. Newhouse The Effect Of Consumer-Directed Health Plans On The Use Of Preventive And Chronic Illness Services Health Aff., January 1, 2008; 27(1): 113 - 120. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]