Are requirements of the nation's new healthcare law driving up out-of-pocket costs for people buying their own insurance?
In some cases, yes. But the law also eliminated some of the largest deductibles, or the amount a consumer pays for actual medical care before an insurance company begins paying.
The Affordable Care Act's cap on out-of-pocket costs — $6,350 for an individual and $12,700 for a family — did away with some whopping deductibles in plans previously offered to people without employer-provided coverage. Deductibles as high as $10,000 for an individual and $30,000 for a family were features of policies sold on the individual market in Illinois 11 months ago, according to a report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office.
