A recent article in the Wall Street Journal (“Americans Cut Back on Visits to Doctor”) examined the declining use of medical services. Health insurers report in the article that utilization of medical services is dropping, as does CVS Caremark and Quest Diagnostics.  According to the article:  “Insured Americans are using fewer medical services, raising questions about whether patients are consuming less health care as they pick up a greater share of the costs.”

Is this really any surprise? The recession continues and health care costs are rising. Use of high deductible plans, which require a greater upfront expenditure, also is rising, leaving more and more patients to pony up large sums of cash for care. Not shockingly, they are choosing to forgo care rather than pay for all of it themselves. Who can blame them. The article notes one upside to this trend: patients using less care means insurers are making more profit. The more profit insurers make, the less likely they’ll be to raise their rates next year (hey, maybe they’ll even lower them -- although I wouldn’t put any money on that).

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