Must-Read: Kenneth E. Thorpe, Lindsay Allen, and Peter Joski: Out-Of-Pocket Prescription Costs Under a Typical Silver Plan Are Twice as High as in the Average Employer Plan
: Out-Of-Pocket Prescription Costs Under a Typical Silver Plan Are Twice as High as in the Average Employer Plan: “The most popular Marketplace plan—the silver plan—has significantly higher cost sharing…
…than does a typical employer-sponsored plan, which may cause patients to reduce the use of cost-saving services that are essential for managing chronic conditions. We estimated the impact of higher cost sharing on drug and medical spending among patients with chronic conditions… out-of-pocket expenses for medications in a typical silver plan are twice as high as they are in the average employer-sponsored plan, resulting in fewer prescriptions filled and refilled and in higher spending on other medical services. Maintaining the use of cost-effective prescription medications might require lower cost sharing for patients with chronic conditions than is currently found in the Marketplaces.