When evaluating employer-sponsored insurance coverage, a household’s spending on out-of-pocket costs includes expenditures for deductibles, copayments and coinsurance for prescription drugs; physician and dental visits; and other care such as surgery, eyeglasses, contact lenses, and medical supplies (but not over-the-counter medical items). If these costs equal 10% or more of the household’s annual income and are not covered by the household’s employer-provided health insurance, they are considered high, according to the Commonwealth Fund, which tracks these costs. For families earning less than 200% of the federal poverty level, then a household’s out-of-pocket costs would be high if they equal 5% of annual income.
