This study investigates whether metal categories used in the health insurance marketplace established by the Affordable Care Act influence consumer choice in plan selection. Participants (N = 598) were randomly assigned to a marketplace environment containing either neutral terminology, metal categories, or descriptive labels. Respondents were asked to choose the most appropriate plan for low‐, average‐, and high‐use cases of health care consumption. Despite the bronze plan possessing the lowest estimated cost across each use case, the use of precious metal categories (compared to a neutral control) resulted in lower frequency selection of the gold plan in a low‐use case, higher frequency selection of the silver plan in an average‐use case, and higher frequency selection of the gold plan in a high‐use case. Furthermore, this study finds that beliefs equating more insurance with better health care and normative beliefs regarding the relationship between income and insurance are important predictors of plan selection.

中文翻译：

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美国健康保险市场分类法和标签对消费者对计划适用性的看法的影响

这项研究调查了《平价医疗法案》（Affordable Care Act）建立的健康保险市场中使用的金属类别是否会影响计划选择中的消费者选择。参加人数= 598）随机分配到包含中性术语，金属类别或描述性标签的市场环境。要求受访者针对低，平均和高使用率的医疗保健消费选择最合适的计划。尽管青铜计划在每个用例中的估计成本最低，但使用贵金属类别（与中性控制相比）会导致在低用例中降低黄金计划的频率选择，而在白银方案中选择较高的频率在平均使用情况下，高频率选择黄金计划。此外，这项研究发现，将更多的保险等同于更好的医疗保健的信念以及关于收入与保险之间关系的规范性信念是计划选择的重要预测指标。