Study: Even Small Copayments Deter Preventative Health Care

Even small copay deters mammogram use, study says:

PROVIDENCE, Rhode Island (Reuters) - Requiring even a small co-payment dramatically reduces the likelihood that women will get regular mammograms to detect breast cancer, researchers reported on Wednesday.

Screening rates from 2001 through 2004 were nearly 11 percent lower for women who had to contribute a co-pay as low as $12, compared to women whose mammograms were free, researchers from Brown and Harvard universities found.... even though nearly all women know the value of mammograms...

Reuters, January 23, 2008