KFF estimates that in 2006, Deductible Relief Day fell on February 28. Just last year, the “holiday” came five days earlier, on May 14. (Photo: Shutterstock)
The Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) has declared May 19 “Deductible Relief Day,” as a way of bringing awareness to a growing issue with high-deductible health plans. Cost-shifting by employer-based plans, originally hailed as a way to make consumers smarter shoppers for health services, have become problematic as Americans on these plans report struggling with affordability when it comes to accessing health care services.
“We set out to estimate the time of year when the average person with employer coverage satisfies their deductible and how that has changed over time,” the new report said. “This year, we estimate “Deductible Relief Day”—the day when enrollees have on average incurred enough health spending to hit the average deductible in an employer plan–will fall on Sunday, May 19, 2019.”
Five months of out-of-pocket costs
That day used to come earlier—KFF estimates that in 2006, Deductible Relief Day fell on February 28. Just last year, the “holiday” came five days earlier, on May 14. The study notes that unlike copays and coinsurance costs, deductibles spending hits consumers at the beginning of the year. For those in high-deductible insurance plans, this reality may mean they need significant savings to start the year in order to cover medical costs.
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