ArticleHealth services research2025
Insulin Out-of-Pocket Spending Caps and Employer-Sponsored Insurance: Changes in Out-of-Pocket and Total Costs for Insulin and Healthcare.
Article in Health services research, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
4 citing papers in PubMed.
- Insulin Costs and Use by Medicare Beneficiaries After the Inflation Reduction Act Out-of-Pocket Cap.JAMA · 2026Article
- 1. Improving Care and Promoting Health in Populations: Standards of Care in Diabetes-2026.Diabetes care · 2026Review
- 9. Pharmacologic Approaches to Glycemic Treatment: Standards of Care in Diabetes-2026.Diabetes care · 2026Review
- Insulin Out-of-Pocket Spending Caps and Employer-Sponsored Insurance: Changes in Out-of-Pocket and Total Costs for Insulin and Healthcare.Health services research · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
Abstract
objectiveTo estimate the impact of state-level insulin out-of-pocket caps on changes in out-of-pocket and total costs of insulin and healthcare for insulin users with employer-sponsored insurance. STUDY SETTING AND
designWe evaluated changes in costs using a quasi-experimental (triple difference-in-differences; "DDD") design to analyze multi-carrier claims from insulin users enrolled in fully insured (state-regulated) and self-funded (generally exempt) employer-sponsored plans in 10 states with caps by January 2021 compared to no-cap states pre-/post-cap implementation. Primary outcomes were changes in insulin out-of-pocket spending, total (plan + member) paid for insulin, and total healthcare costs. Secondary outcomes were intermediary (e.g., pharmaceutical) changes in out-of-pocket and total costs. DATA SOURCES AND ANALYTIC SAMPLE: In the policy year (no-cap states: 2021), we identified 218,441 insulin-users in the Health Care Cost Institute 2.0 Dataset (cap states: 27,834 in fully insured and 22,131 in self-funded plans; no-cap states: 97,239 in fully insured and 71,237 in self-funded plans) and 215,635 in the year prior. PRINCIPAL
findingsWe found evidence of modest decreases in 30-day standardized (DDD: -$5 [95% CI: -$6 to -$4]; p < 0.001) and annual (DDD: -$67 [95% CI: -$82 to -$51]; p < 0.001) insulin out-of-pocket spending. Savings increased by spending quantile (e.g., 95th-percentile change:-$347 [95% CI: -$460 to $233]). Difference-in-differences (DiD) comparing fully insured to self-funded plans within cap-states showed larger changes (e.g., 95th-percentile annual insulin out-of-pocket:-$484 [95% CI: -$651 to -$318]), likely due to policy spillover effects (i.e., fully insured plans decreased out-of-pocket in no-cap states). Change in annual total paid for healthcare was not statistically significant (DDD:-$1082 [95% CI: -$2918 to $755]; p < 0.25). We saw no evidence of caps increasing out-of-pocket or total spending on insulin, prescriptions, or healthcare.
conclusionsOur findings suggest early caps had modest effects on out-of-pocket spending among fully insured insulin users, with larger savings for those at the top of the spending distribution and no total cost increases. Policy effects may be greater than observed; they likely lag implementation and develop over time.
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What Socratic holds
Registered trials
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