Title

Guarding against the High Risk of High-Deductible Health Plans: A Proposal for Regulatory Protections

Abstract

High deductible health plans are a cornerstone of "consumer-driven health care." This article explores a number of myths promoted by proponents of such plans and challenges these myths to discuss the various ways such plans pose risks to consumers both individually and generally. While most articles on this topic explore the arguments for and against such plans, this article, unlike others, proposes specific regulatory protections with model language. In fact, this article already has been used as the basis for testimony before the California State Assembly which, for the first time, has introduced legislation aimed at regulating such plans and adopts some of the protections advanced in this article.

Disciplines

Health Law and Policy

Date of this Version

March 2006