High-Deductible Health Plans and the Cost and Utilization of Maternity Care Services

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the impact of switching from an HMO to a high-deductible health plan on the costs and utilization of maternity care. STUDY DESIGN: Pre–post design, with a control group. METHODS: We compared 229 women who delivered babies before or after their employers mandated a switch from HMO coverage to a high-deductible health plan, with a control group of 2180 matched women who delivered babies while their employers remained in an HMO plan. Administrative claims from a large Massachusetts-based health insurance program were used in a difference-in-differences regression analysis. RESULTS: Mean out-of-pocket maternity care costs for high-deductible group members increased from $356 for women who delivered before the insurance transition (n = 86) to $942 for women who delivered after the transition (n = 143), compared with a change from $262 (n = 711) to $282 (n = 1569) for HMO members, a relative increase of 106% (P