In response to federal policy and service requirements, health insurance plans are increasingly developing high-deductible insurance policies and narrow networks. These types of policies require the consumer to pay more out-of-pocket. To portray this in a positive light, this trend has been labeled as “consumer-based” to suggest that the consumer must pay more from their own funds and, thus, encourage consumers to make better health care choices. However, this could be labeled as a burden on the consumer.

Write a 350- to 525-word article that identifies and evaluates the impact that federal or state health care policies are having on consumer costs. Explore both positive and negative effects.