TY  - JOUR
AU  - Sasso,Anthony T. Lo
AU  - Helmchen,Lorens A.
AU  - Kaestner,Robert
TI  - The Effects of Consumer-Directed Health Plans on Health Care Spending
JF  - National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper Series
VL  - No. 15106
PY  - 2009
Y2  - June 2009
UR  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w15106
L1  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w15106.pdf
N1  - Author contact info:
Anthony T. Lo Sasso
Health Policy and Administration Division
School of Public Health
University of Illinois at Chicago
1603 W. Taylor
Chicago, IL 60612
E-Mail: losasso@uic.edu

Lorens Helmchen
Department of Health Administration and Policy
George Mason University
4400 University Drive - MS 1J3
Northeast Module I, 121
Fairfax, VA 22030 
Tel: (703) 993-9734 
Fax: (703) 993-1953 
E-Mail: lhelmche@gmu.edu

Robert Kaestner
Institute of Government and Public Affairs
University of Illinois
815 West Van Buren Street, Suite 525
Chicago, IL  60607
Tel: 312/996-8227
E-Mail: kaestner.robert@gmail.com
AB  - We use unique data from an insurer that exclusively offers high-deductible, "consumer-directed" health plans to identify the effect of plan features, notably the spending account, on health care spending.  Our results show that the marginal dollar in the spending account is entirely spent on outpatient and pharmacy services.  In contrast, inpatient and out-of-pocket spending were not responsive to the amount in the spending account.  Our results represent the first plausibly causal estimates of the components of consumer-driven health plans on health spending.  The magnitudes of the effects suggest important moral hazard consequences to higher spending account levels.
ER  -