A new study from the Kaiser Family Foundation looks at the resources available to people who are uninsured and finds that "households with few assets cannot handle the cost-sharing requirements of many high-deductible health plan options."

The study, by Paul Jacobs and Gary Claxton of Kaiser, is flawed in a number of ways:

One of the primary reasons that people with low or modest incomes don't have health insurance is because they can't afford it. All of the 2008 presidential candidates are offering proposals that would provide them with new resources to obtain coverage. Given these new resources, people should then have the opportunity to select the health insurance plan that best suits their needs — whether it be a comprehensive PPO, an HMO, an HSA, etc.

The study fails to take into account the full economic equation that people face when selecting health insurance, including the cost of the insurance premiums, the size of the deductible, and the co-payments or co-insurance they face. Some people choose to pay higher premiums in order to have lower co-payments and deductibles. Others choose to have higher-deductible plans with lower premiums. Looking only at the size of the deductible distorts the full picture. If people have the choice of spending $8,000 for a comprehensive plan or $3,000 for a high-deductible plan, that may be the more economical choice. The premium savings must be factored in when considering the buyer's full out-of-pocket costs.

Further, the authors acknowledge that many employers help to fund the HSA (or HRA) to offset the deductible and reduce their employees' out-of-pocket exposure. To quote the authors: "Our estimates may exaggerate liability because families covered by HSA qualified HDHPs may receive a contribution from their employer to an HSA, reducing their out-of-pocket exposure. Uninsured working families whose employers offer HSA contributions, regardless of whether the employer directly offers the policy, would generally experience lower out-of-pocket liability; thus, our estimates may overstate the cost sharing these families would face."

Finally, people may decide to purchase a higher-deductible health insurance policy in order to buy a policy they can afford. They generally will not face the full deductible every year. But in the event of an illness or accident, they would have insurance coverage to protect them so they would not face medical bills that could run into the tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars and could quickly bankrupt them. That is what insurance is for. Those with low incomes likely will need additional help in paying routine bills, but putting both problems in the same basket distorts the policy question and discourages people from fully considering all of their options.

Bottom line: Don't believe every headline you read!