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High-Deductible Insurance and Delay in Care for the Macrovascular Complications of Diabetes.

ABSTRACT: Background:Little is known about the long-term effects of high-deductible insurance on care for chronic medical conditions. Objective:To determine whether a transition from low-deductible to high-deductible insurance is associated with delayed medical care for macrovascular complications of diabetes. Design:Observational longitudinal comparison of matched groups. Setting:A large national health insurer during 2003 to 2012. Participants:The intervention group comprised 33 957 persons with diabetes who were continuously enrolled in low-deductible (?$500) insurance plans during a baseline year followed by up to 4 years in high-deductible (?$1000) plans. The control group included 294 942 persons with diabetes who were enrolled in low-deductible plans contemporaneously with matched intervention group members. Intervention:Employer-mandated transition to a high-deductible plan. Measurements:The number of months it took for persons in each study group to seek care for their first major macrovascular symptom, have their first major diagnostic test for macrovascular disease, and have their first major procedure-based treatment was determined. Between-group differences in time to reach a midpoint event rate were then calculated. Results:No baseline differences were found between groups. During follow-up, the delay for the high-deductible group was 1.5 months (95% CI, 0.8 to 2.3 months) for seeking care for the first major symptom, 1.9 months (CI, 1.4 to 2.3 months) for the first diagnostic test, and 3.1 months (CI, 0.5 to 5.8 months) for the first procedure-based treatment. Limitation:Health outcomes were not examined. Conclusion:Among persons with diabetes, mandated enrollment in a high-deductible insurance plan was associated with delays in seeking care for the first major symptoms of macrovascular disease, the first diagnostic test, and the first procedure-based treatment. Primary Funding Source:National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases.

SUBMITTER: Wharam JF

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6934173 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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High-Deductible Insurance and Delay in Care for the Macrovascular Complications of Diabetes.

Wharam J Frank JF Lu Christine Y CY Zhang Fang F Callahan Matthew M Xu Xin X Wallace Jamie J Soumerai Stephen S Ross-Degnan Dennis D Newhouse Joseph P JP

Annals of internal medicine 20181120 12

<h4>Background</h4>Little is known about the long-term effects of high-deductible insurance on care for chronic medical conditions.<h4>Objective</h4>To determine whether a transition from low-deductible to high-deductible insurance is associated with delayed medical care for macrovascular complications of diabetes.<h4>Design</h4>Observational longitudinal comparison of matched groups.<h4>Setting</h4>A large national health insurer during 2003 to 2012.<h4>Participants</h4>The intervention group c ...[more]

PMID: 30458499

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Project description:ImportanceHigh-deductible health plans (HDHPs) have expanded under the Affordable Care Act and are expected to play a major role in the future of US health policy. The effects of modern HDHPs on chronically ill patients and adverse outcomes are unknown.ObjectiveTo determine the association of HDHP with high-priority diabetes outpatient care and preventable acute complications.Design, setting, and participantsControlled interrupted-time-series study using a large national health insurer database from January 1, 2003, to December 31, 2012. A total of 12 084 HDHP members with diabetes, aged 12 to 64 years, who were enrolled for 1 year in a low-deductible (≤$500) plan followed by 2 years in an HDHP (≥$1000) after an employer-mandated switch were included. Patients transitioning to HDHPs were propensity-score matched with contemporaneous patients whose employers offered only low-deductible coverage. Low-income (n = 4121) and health savings account (HSA)-eligible (n = 1899) patients with diabetes were subgroups of interest. Data analysis was performed from February 23, 2015, to September 11, 2016.ExposuresEmployer-mandated HDHP transition.Main outcomes and measuresHigh-priority outpatient visits, disease monitoring tests, and outpatient and emergency department visits for preventable acute diabetes complications.ResultsIn the 12 084 HDHP members included after the propensity score match, the mean (SD) age was 50.4 (10.0) years; 5410 of the group (44.8%) were women. The overall, low-income, and HSA-eligible diabetes HDHP groups experienced increases in out-of-pocket medical expenditures of 49.4% (95% CI, 40.3% to 58.4%), 51.7% (95% CI, 38.6% to 64.7%), and 67.8% (95% CI, 47.9% to 87.8%), respectively, compared with controls in the year after transitioning to HDHPs. High-priority primary care visits and disease monitoring tests did not change significantly in the overall HDHP cohort; however, high-priority specialist visits declined by 5.5% (95% CI, -9.6% to -1.5%) in follow-up year 1 and 7.1% (95% CI, -11.5% to -2.7%) in follow-up year 2 vs baseline. Outpatient acute diabetes complication visits were delayed in the overall and low-income HDHP cohorts at follow-up (adjusted hazard ratios, 0.94 [95% CI, 0.88 to 0.99] for the overall cohort and 0.89 [95% CI, 0.81 to 0.98] for the low-income cohort). Annual emergency department acute complication visits among HDHP members increased by 8.0% (95% CI, 4.6% to 11.4%) in the overall group, 21.7% (95% CI, 14.5% to 28.9%) in the low-income group, and 15.5% (95% CI, 10.5% to 20.6%) in the HSA-eligible group.Conclusions and relevancePatients with diabetes experienced minimal changes in outpatient visits and disease monitoring after an HDHP switch, but low-income and HSA-eligible HDHP members experienced major increases in emergency department visits for preventable acute diabetes complications.

Project description:ObjectiveHigh-deductible health plans (HDHPs) are now the predominant commercial health insurance benefit in the U.S. We sought to determine the effects of HDHPs on emergency department and hospital care, adverse outcomes, and total health care expenditures among patients with diabetes.Research design and methodsWe applied a controlled interrupted time-series design to study 23,493 HDHP members with diabetes, aged 12-64, insured through a large national health insurer from 2003 to 2012. HDHP members were enrolled for 1 year in a low-deductible (≤$500) plan, followed by 1 year in an HDHP (≥$1,000 deductible) after an employer-mandated switch. Patients transitioning to HDHPs were matched to 192,842 contemporaneous patients whose employers offered only low-deductible coverage. HDHP members from low-income neighborhoods (n = 8,453) were a subgroup of interest. Utilization measures included emergency department visits, hospitalizations, and total (health plan plus member out-of-pocket) health care expenditures. Proxy health outcome measures comprised high-severity emergency department visit expenditures and high-severity hospitalization days.ResultsAfter the HDHP transition, emergency department visits declined by 4.0% (95% CI -7.8, -0.1), hospitalizations fell by 5.6% (-10.8, -0.5), direct (nonemergency department-based) hospitalizations declined by 11.1% (-16.6, -5.6), and total health care expenditures dropped by 3.8% (-4.3, -3.4). Adverse outcomes did not change in the overall HDHP cohort, but members from low-income neighborhoods experienced 23.5% higher (18.3, 28.7) high-severity emergency department visit expenditures and 27.4% higher (15.5, 39.2) high-severity hospitalization days.ConclusionsAfter an HDHP switch, direct hospitalizations declined by 11.1% among patients with diabetes, likely driving 3.8% lower total health care expenditures. Proxy adverse outcomes were unchanged in the overall HDHP population with diabetes, but members from low-income neighborhoods experienced large, concerning increases in high-severity emergency department visit expenditures and hospitalization days.

Project description:OBJECTIVE:High-deductible health plans (HDHPs) have become the predominant commercial health insurance arrangement in the US. HDHPs require substantial out-of-pocket (OOP) costs for most services but often exempt medications from high cost sharing. We examined effects of HDHPs on OOP costs and utilization of adjuvant hormonal therapy (AHT), which are fundamental care for patients with breast cancer. METHODS:This controlled quasi-experimental study used claims data (2003-2012) from a large national health insurer. We included 986 women with incident early-stage breast cancer, age 25-64 years, insured by employers that mandated a transition from low-deductible (??$500/year) to high-deductible (??$1000/year) coverage, and 3479 propensity score-matched controls whose employers offered only low-deductible plans. We examined AHT utilization and OOP costs per person-year before and after the HDHP switch. RESULTS:At baseline, the OOP costs for AHT were $40.41 and $36.55 per person-year among the HDHP and control groups. After the HDHP switch, the OOP costs for AHT were $91.76 and $72.98 per person-year among the HDHP and control groups, respectively. AHT OOP costs increased among HDHP members relative to controls but the change was not significant (relative change 13.72% [95% CI -?9.25, 36.70%]). AHT use among HDHP members did not change compared to controls (relative change of 2.73% [95% CI -?14.01, 19.48%]); the change in aromatase inhibitor use was -?11.94% (95% CI -?32.76, 8.88%) and the change in tamoxifen use was 20.65% (95% CI -?8.01, 49.32%). CONCLUSION:We did not detect significant changes in AHT use after the HDHP switch. Findings might be related to modest increases in overall AHT OOP costs, the availability of low-cost generic tamoxifen, and patient awareness that AHT can prolong life and health. Minimizing OOP cost increases for essential medications might represent a feasible approach for maintaining medication adherence among HDHP members with incident breast cancer.

Project description:BackgroundType 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is a chronic, metabolic disorder in which concomitant insulin resistance and β-cell impairment lead to hyperglycemia, influenced by genetic and environmental factors. T2DM is associated with long-term complications that have contributed to the burden of morbidity and mortality worldwide. The objective of this manuscript is to conduct an Exome-Wide Association Study (EWAS) on T2DM Emirati individuals to improve our understanding on diabetes-related complications to improve early diagnostic methods and treatment strategies.MethodsThis cross-sectional study recruited 310 Emirati participants that were stratified according to their medically diagnosed diabetes-related complications: diabetic retinopathy, diabetic neuropathy, diabetic nephropathy, and cardiovascular complications. The Illumina's Infinium Exome-24 array was used and 39,840 SNPs remained for analysis after quality control.FindingsThe analysis revealed the associations of various genes with each complication category: 1) diabetic retinopathy was associated to SHANK3 gene in locus 22q13.33 (SNP rs9616915; p=5.18 x10-4), ZSCAN5A gene in locus 19q13.43 (SNP rs7252603; p=7.55 x10-4), and DCP1B gene in locus 12p13.33 (SNPs rs715146, rs1044950, rs113147414, rs34730825; p=7.62 x10-4); 2) diabetic neuropathy was associated to ADH4 gene in locus 4q23 (SNP rs4148883; p=1.23 x10-4), SLC11A1 gene in locus 2q35 (SNP rs17235409; p=1.85 x10-4), and MATN4 gene in locus 20q13.12 (SNP rs2072788; p=2.68 x10-4); 3) diabetic nephropathy was associated to PPP1R3A gene in locus 7q31.1 (SNP rs1799999; p=1.91 x10-4), ZNF136 gene in locus 19p13.2 (SNP rs140861589; p=2.80 x10-4), and HSPA12B gene in locus 20p13 (SNP rs6076550; p=2.86 x10-4); and 4) cardiovascular complications was associated to PCNT gene in locus 21q22.3 (SNPs rs7279204, rs6518289, rs2839227, rs2839223; p=2.18 x10-4,3.04 x10-4,4.51 x10-4,5.22 x10-4 respectively), SEPT14 gene in locus 7p11.2 (SNP rs146350220; p=2.77 x10-4), and WDR73 gene in locus 15q25.2 (SNP rs72750868; p=4.47 x10-4).InterpretationWe have identified susceptibility loci associated with each category of T2DM-related complications in the Emirati population. Given that only 16% of the markers from the Illumina's Infinium Exome chip passed quality control assessment, this demonstrates that multiple variants were, either, monomorphic in the Arab population or were not genotyped due to the use of a Euro-centric EWAS array that limits the possibility of including targeted ethnic-specific SNPs. Our results suggest the alarming possibility that lack of representation in reference panels could inhibit discovery of functionally important loci associated to T2DM complications. Further effort must be conducted to improve the representation of diverse populations in genotyping and sequencing studies.

Dataset Information

High-Deductible Insurance and Delay in Care for the Macrovascular Complications of Diabetes.

Publications

High-Deductible Insurance and Delay in Care for the Macrovascular Complications of Diabetes.

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