HCFO Researcher Discusses Role of VBID in High-Deductible Plans

In a recent piece for The American Journal of Managed Care [1], Niteesh Choudhry, M.D., Ph.D., Harvard Medical School, discusses how high-deductible health plans (HDHP) can benefit from the use of value-based insurance design (VBID). He explains that one of the desirable effects of HDHPs is a shift among patients away from expensive medications to lower-cost medications like generics. However, emerging data suggests that HDHPs may also lead to a reduction in the use of essential medications, such as medications for heart disease and diabetes, which would be considered an adverse effect of HDHPs. Choudhry notes, “So that’s an example of the role of where value-based insurance design for these medications may fit with a HDHP as a method to mitigate the adverse effects of the plans themselves.” In his HCFO-funded study [2], Choudhry and colleagues evaluated the impact of different VBID characteristics on patterns of adherence and discontinuation and use of statins.