Medical Savings Accounts in publicly funded health care systems: enthusiasm versus evidence.
Medical Savings Accounts (MSAs) have been suggested as a possible solution to Canada's health care funding woes. This approach is intended to reduce demand for health services by making individuals financially responsible for their pattern of consumption. MSAs may have appeal in the private insurance industry. A review of the scant literature on the experience in the public systems of Singapore and China, where such plans have been implemented, and on a simulation using United States Medicare data, suggests that the approach alone has not controlled costs and may increase inequalities in publicly funded systems. The conclusion is that current knowledge of MSAs is too limited to recommend their incorporation into the Canadian health care system.
Shortt
Samuel E D
SE
Centre for Health Services and Policy Research, Queen's University, Kingston, Ont. seds@post.queensu.ca
D002170:Canada; D002681:China; D003363:Cost Control; D017047:Cost Sharing; D003669:Deductibles and Coinsurance; D019317:Evidence-Based Medicine; D005380:Financing, Government; D006302:Health Services Research; D020402:Medical Savings Accounts / Q000191:economics*; D006278:Medicare; D009313:National Health Programs / Q000191:economics*; D017149:Private Sector / Q000191:economics; D012846:Singapore; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D014481:United States