Many health care procedures under self-insured plans are more expensive than they are under fully-insured plans, a new report from Health Affairs has found.

The study, using data from the Health Care Cost Institute (HCCI), may be surprising to some because the self-insured approach has been considered a less-expensive alternative to fully insured plans by many brokers and employers. By opting for self-insurance, employer plans take more financial risk, but the risk has been considered justified by the savings on health care.

The study pointed out that because of the additional responsibility that self-insured plans have; they are considered to have more incentive to seek out lower prices of health care services. However, although there are variations, the Health Affairs study found overall that more services have higher costs under self-insured plans.