Having a health insurance plan with a high deductible can be costly, and new research suggests it may also significantly impact your survival odds if you are diagnosed with cancer. A study published in JAMA Network Open found that individuals with high-deductible plans who were diagnosed with cancer had poorer overall and cancer-specific survival rates compared to those with more standard health insurance plans.
These findings, though not unexpected, highlight the difficult decisions Americans face as healthcare costs continue to rise. In an effort to mitigate expenses, many individuals are choosing insurance plans with higher deductibles, which means they have to pay more out-of-pocket before their insurance coverage begins to contribute.
This issue is critically relevant for those enrolled in insurance plans through the Affordable Care Act (ACA) marketplace. Plan prices have soared after Congress failed to extend vital tax credits, causing monthly premiums for ACA plans to more than double on average. Preliminary data on ACA enrollments for 2026 indicate that fewer people are signing up for these plans, and those who do often choose bronze plans, which come with high deductibles.
In the study, researchers defined high-deductible health plans (HDHPs) as those with minimum deductibles ranging from $1,200 to $1,350 for individuals or $2,400 to $2,700 for families between 2011 and 2018, with the cutoff amounts increasing within those ranges. For context, the average individual deductible for an ACA bronze plan in 2026 is estimated to be about $7,500, according to data from KFF.
Such high out-of-pocket costs have been associated with delays or reductions in healthcare utilization, as people may skip doctor visits, avoid diagnostic testing, and forgo necessary treatments. However, researchers led by Justin Barnes at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, sought to investigate if these plans are directly linked to reduced survival rates, particularly among cancer patients who require extensive medical care.