Wealthier pick high-deductible health plans-US GAO

By Kim Dixon

WASHINGTON, April 30 (Reuters) - High-deductible health plans, touted by some health insurers as a way to contain runaway medical costs, are attracting wealthier individuals than typical plans, a government report on Wednesday found.

The plans charge steeper yearly deductibles, typically about $1,000 for individuals, in exchange for cheaper monthly premiums. The higher out-of-pocket limits are aimed at encouraging patients to make wiser treatment decisions.

Critics say they attract the healthiest and wealthiest, leaving sicker people in the wider insurance pool and boosting overall health care costs. They also say the plans push costs onto patients and are too pricey for the poor and uninsured.

The General Accountability Office (GAO), an investigative arm of Congress, found the plans do indeed attract the wealthier, those with an average income of $139,000, compared with about $57,000 among others plans, an analysis based on income tax records.

Rep. Pete Stark, the California Democrat who requested the GAO report, argued the plans are being used as a tax shelter for the wealthy.

"They aren't the answer for providing adequate health insurance coverage for the average American," Stark said in a statement.

More than 6.1 million people were covered by such plans by the beginning of 2008, up from about 3.2 million in 2006, according to America's Health Insurance Plans (AHIP), which represents insurers such as UnitedHealth Group (UNH.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) and Aetna Inc (AET.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) and released a separate report on Wednesday.

Karen Ignagni, president of AHIP, said the government study is based on 2005 data, when only 1 million people were in the plans.