6th Biennial Conference of the American Society of Health Economists

June 12 - 15, 2016

Effects of Targeted Cost-Sharing and Insurance Plan Designs

Health insurance plans are increasingly designed with the goal of encouraging patients to obtain care that is considered of high value, to obtain care from providers who are considered to be of high quality or low cost, and to better manage chronic illnesses. The papers in this session explore the impacts of these plan design features. The first paper considers the spillover effects of a value-based plan design, the second considers the effects of cost-sharing that incentivizes patients to use lower-cost providers, and the third considers a plan design that is targeted to diabetes patients.