Value-Based Insurance in Practice

A new US health insurance model uses financial sticks and carrots to steer patients toward the most beneficial care.

The model, known as value-based insurance design, makes patients foot more of the bill for medical procedures of questionable value, like surgery for enlarged prostate and many back operations, and less - even zero - for unquestionably beneficial care such as vaccines and hypertension treatment. But while health policy researchers have been pushing the idea for a decade, it is only now catching on.

Some examples:

*In the largest experiment with financial sticks, Oregon's state employees - about 275,000 workers and dependents - moved in 2010 to a value-based healthcare plan.

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Source: Economic Times