Balancing the goals of improving health care quality with out-of-pocket costs in breast cancer patients

High deductible health plans (HDHPs) use high cost-sharing requirements as a mechanism to incorporate patients into the efficiency equation. It is theorized that when patients have “skin in the game,” or are more directly responsible for the costs of the healthcare services they receive, they make more optimal and cost-conscious utilization decisions by seeking out high-value services (1).