Table 4.

Health Care Decision-Making Attitudes and Behaviors by Household Income

	Families with FPL < 300% (n = 141)	Families with FPL ≥ 300% (n = 273)	P Value
Plan use and information-seeking, %
Feels unprotected from OOP expensesa	54.3	44.1	.06
Finds current health plan difficult to understandb	24.8	26.2	.85
Ever encountered unexpected costs in current plan	46.4	40.7	.32
Ever tried to find out whether would have to pay for a service before meeting deductible in current plan	50.7	52.4	.83
Ever tried to find out how much would need to pay for a service in current plan	39.3	40.9	.84
Discussing hypothetical recommended services not covered by HDHP, %c
Likely to discuss $100 routine blood test	79.4	63.1	.01
Likely to discuss $1000 screening colonoscopy	89.4	80.2	.02
Likely to discuss $2000 MRI for low back pain	94.3	90.4	.24

Abbreviations: FPL, Federal Poverty Level; HDHP, high-deductible health plan; MRI, magnetic resonance imaging; OOP, out-of-pocket

^aRespondent feels self and family “not very well” or “not at all” protected from OOP expenses.

^bRespondent finds current health insurance plan “somewhat difiicult” or “very difficult” to understand.

^cRespondents were asked how likely they would be to ask their doctor whether they could delay or modify, due to cost, 3 hypothetically recommended services they knew would not be covered by their health insurance: (1) $100 routine blood test, (2) $1000 screening colonoscopy, and (3) $2000 MRI for minor back pain symptoms.