Individual Insurance Benefits to Be Available Under Health Reform Would Have Cut Out-of-Pocket Spending in 2001–08 (Health Affairs)

A study recently found that if the near-elderly had benefits similar to the Affordable Care Act from 2001-2008, they might have saved $589 annually on out-of-pocket spending. People with low incomes might have saved $535, and adults $280 or less. Out-of-pocket spending on care exceeding $6,000 would have been reduced for all adults with individual insurance, and the chances of having expenditures exceeding $4,000 would have been reduced for many. Adults with individual insurance were significantly more likely than adults with insurance from small or large employers to have out-of-pocket expenditures exceeding $3,000. The study compared out-of-pocket spending on health care between individual and employment-related insurance, then simulated the impact of full implementation of provisions of the Affordable Care Act on adults who currently have individual insurance.