Nearly six times more Kentucky workers were enrolled in high-deductible health insurance plans in 2014 compared to 2006, according to a report released this week.

In releasing the report, Susan Zepeda, president and CEO of Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky, said that research shows high-deductible plans lead to decreased health care spending as consumers who have to pay up front for care become more cost-conscious.

“Consumers on high-deductible plans also tend to use fewer preventive services, such as vaccinations and cancer screenings, that save money – and lives – in the long run,” Zepeda said in a news release. “These plans can make it more difficult for Kentuckians with low incomes or chronic conditions to pay their medical bills, leading them to delay or skip essential health care.”

According to the report, more than 2.4 million Kentuckians obtain health insurance through their employers, with 38.6 percent of them enrolled in high-deductible plans compared to 6.6 percent in 2006.

Quality Insurance Agency agent Stephanie Mason said an advantage of high-deductible plans is that the premiums are more affordable and sometimes people don’t have a choice in which plan to select because it’s all they can afford.

“If they do get sick they are going to have a lot of money they have to pay out of pocket,” Mason said. “They’re going to receive the same health care since they are covered. There’s no difference between plans when it comes to regular check-ups.”

The report also states that 60 percent of 2016 enrollees in kynect selected the higher deductible, lower premium silver-level plan, which has a median deductible of $3,500 for an individual and $7,000 for a family, and median monthly payments, or premiums, of $255 and $585, respectively.

The IRS defines a high deductible in 2014 as $1,250 for an individual and $2,500 for family coverage.

Todd Goodwin, insurance agent for Insurance Exchange and Medicare Solutions, said seeing people take the higher deductible is generally the trend. Fifteen years ago someone may have a $250 deductible while now they may have a $2,500 deductible.

“This boils down to the premium, the price. If your insurance rates go up, you’re going to look at how you can afford that,” Goodwin said. “That’s when you kind of have to weigh it out mathematically. Say if you have more health issues, you may decide to pay more (on premiums) so that you have a lower deductible. While if you’re a general healthy person, you may take the high deductible. That would be a cost/benefit situation.”

The percentage of U.S. employees on health insurance plans with deductibles at any level grew from 66.4 percent in 2006 to 83.9 percent in 2014, the percentage of such plans in Kentucky was much higher than in the country as a whole, but has remained relatively the same since then from 90 percent in 2006 to 90.3 percent in 2014, according to the news release.

The report doesn’t address what may happen as Kentucky transitions to a federal health exchange and if Gov. Matt Bevin moves forward with altering Medicaid expansion coverage.

— Follow faith/general assignments reporter Simone C. Payne on Twitter @_SimonePayne or visit bgdailynews.com.