There was a study published about a month ago by the National Bureau of Economic Research with looked at consumer health spending when switching from a traditional health insurance plan and an HDHP with HSA. From the plain language summary (http://www.nber.org/digest/dec15/w21632.html)
For anyone interested, I have a blog post about the study here: http://www.sotirioskeros.com/2015/12/12 ... alth-care/After years of providing completely free medical care to its employees, a large company switched to a high-deductible insurance plan that, in its first year, covered 78 percent of expenditures. The subsequent change in the spending patterns of employees suggest that textbook models of rational consumer behavior do not apply to demand for health care....
They note that even relatively well-educated and well-paid consumers in their data sample appear to act in ways counter to their financial and medical interests.
I definitely have encountered examples (with both my financial planning clients and my patients, as well as personally) where details of their insurance has affected (for better or worse) their health care decisions.
I think this is a very important contribution to the field of consumer finance and behavior, and potentially adds another example of time when "non-mathematical" considerations might be important, perhaps analogous to buy vs. rent, loan reduction vs. investing, and DCA vs. lump sum investing.
Anyway, I'm eager to hear any thoughts on this study.
Neurosphere