More Mass. Residents Opt For Low-Cost Health Care

A new report shows that more Massachusetts residents are opting for lower-cost, higher-deductible health insurance plans.

The report released Friday says people in the lower-cost plans spent significantly less on their medical care, but have cut back on preventive health care, including cancer screenings and childhood vaccinations.

Amelia Haviland, co-author of the RAND Corp. study, tells The Boston Globe the real concern is that while reducing costs, it's not clear the higher deductible plans can maintain quality.

Haviland says high deductibles may have deterred patients from seeking care for medical problems.

Researchers studied 36,000 families enrolled in high-deductible plans, and among those with a deductible of at least $1,000 per person, health spending was 14 percent less in the first year than for families with lower deductibles.