Last week the Commonwealth Fund released a report* comparing the experiences of people who bought health plans in the ACA marketplace to that of people who get health insurance through their employers. Commonwealth surveyed nearly 5,000 adults between March and May of this year, asking questions about their income, their insurance status, plan features, usage and affordability.
With respect to out-of-pocket costs, here's the top-line takeaway as framed in the Commonwealth press release:
With respect to out-of-pocket costs, here's the top-line takeaway as framed in the Commonwealth press release:
Overall, larger shares of adults with marketplace plans had per-person deductibles of $1,000 or more than did those with employer plans (43% vs. 34%). The differences were widest among those with higher incomes: in this group, over half (53%) with marketplace plans had high deductibles, compared to about one-third (35%) with employer plans. In the survey, people with high deductibles were less confident than those with lower deductibles that they could afford needed care.What's equally salient, in my view, is that the subsidized marketplace has narrowed the longstanding coverage gap between employer-sponsored insurance (ESI) and nongroup market insurance for lower-income buyers. Compare those with incomes under 250% of the Federal Poverty Level (FPL) to those with ESI:
