Study Finds Few Uninsured Families Have the Financial Assets To Cover Cost Sharing in HSA-Qualified Plans

"Comparing the Assets of Uninsured Households to Cost Sharing Under High Deductible Health Plans," Health Affairs: For the Web exclusive, Kaiser Family Foundation researcher Paul Jacobs and Gary Claxton, a Foundation vice president and director of its Health Care Marketplace Project, used data from the 2004 Survey of Consumer Finances to analyze the asset levels of households with two or more uninsured members in 2004 and compared them to the range of cost sharing features in health savings account-qualified health plans in that year. The analysis found that relatively few uninsured households have enough financial assets to cover cost sharing in consumer-driven health plans tied to HSAs. The analysis also found a considerable gap between the financial assets of insured households compared to those with uninsured members, which persisted even among those with relatively low incomes (Kaiser Family Foundation release, 4/15).