Primary Care Task Force Statutory Deliverable #5: Assess the Impact of Health Plan Design on Health Equity and Patient Access to Primary Care Services

Statutory Deliverable #5: Assess the Impact of

Health Plan Design on Health Equity and Patient

Access to Primary Care Services

Introduction

Health care affordability ranks as a top concern among Massachusetts residents. 1 As health care

costs continue to rise, growth in two key features of health insurance benefit design – health

insurance premiums and cost sharing – is straining household budgets. 2 From the insured’s

perspective, premiums are fixed costs in a household’s monthly budget, whether deducted from an

employee’s paycheck or paid directly to the insurer, while out-of-pocket health care spending (cost

sharing) are variable costs that individuals and families often aren’t able to plan for. If these costs