Studies have shown that when barriers are reduced, significant increases in patient compliance with recommended treatments and potential cost savings result.
[8] In 1996, Asheville, North Carolina, began a community-based medication management program for self-insured employers to address diabetes in their workforce.
[9] In the late 1990s, researchers, physicians, and economists at the University of Michigan (U-M) began studying a concept similar to VBBD, something termed "benefit-based copay".
[13] Much like VBBD and benefit-based copays, V-BID is built on the principle of lowering or removing financial barriers to essential, high-value clinical services.
[4] The term "value-based insurance design" was subsequently published for the first time in peer-reviewed literature in a 2006 article in The American Journal of Managed Care.
[3] V-BID plans may create disincentives as well, such as high cost-sharing, for health choices that may be unnecessary or repetitive, or when the same outcome can be achieved at a lower cost.
[15] V-BID programs increase cost sharing for unproven, misused or low-benefit care, like inappropriate emergency department use or imaging for low back pain.
[15] This encourages people to consider alternatives and works especially well with "shared decision-making" tools that explain treatment option pros and cons objectively in plain language.
[20] The expansion created the Healthy Michigan Plan, which relies on V-BID to improve access, control costs, and enhance personal responsibility.
The model will test whether the introduction of clinically nuanced V-BID elements into Medicare Advantage plans' benefit designs will lead to higher-quality and more cost-efficient care for targeted enrollees.
[25] In 2004, Mayo Clinic's self-funded health plan increased cost sharing for its employees and their dependents for specialty care visits and other services such as imaging, testing and outpatient procedures.
[26] The plan also removed all cost sharing for visits to primary care providers and for preventive services such as colorectal screening and mammography.
[26] on January 1, 2005, Novartis Pharmaceuticals implemented a value-based insurance program for medications used to treat three chronic conditions: asthma, hypertension, and diabetes.
[27] As part of the program, copayments were eliminated, and members paid 10% and 7.5% of the cost of retail and mail order prescriptions, respectively, for drugs used in the treatment of asthma, hypertension, and diabetes.