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. 2025 Apr 4;6(4):e250168.
doi: 10.1001/jamahealthforum.2025.0168.

Use of Patient Portal Messaging and Self-Reported Copays Among US Adults 50 Years or Older

Terrence Liu  1   2   3 , Matthias Kirch  1 , Erica Solway  1 , Dianne C Singer  1 , J Scott Roberts  1   4 , Jeffrey T Kullgren  1   2   3   5 , Tammy Chang  1   6
Affiliations

Use of Patient Portal Messaging and Self-Reported Copays Among US Adults 50 Years or Older

Terrence Liu et al. JAMA Health Forum. .
No abstract available

Plain language summary

This survey study characterizes the prevalence of reported copays for portal messages by health insurance type among US adults aged 50 years or older who used portal messaging.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of Interest Disclosures: Dr Liu reported receiving funding from the National Clinician Scholars Program, the Veterans Affairs Center for Clinical Management Research, and the Veterans Affairs Ann Arbor Healthcare System outside the submitted work. Dr Kullgren reported receiving grants from the Michigan Health Endowment Fund during the conduct of the study; and grants from the US National Institutes of Health, the US Department of Veterans Affairs, the American Diabetes Association, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the Donaghue Foundation, the Healthwell Foundation, the State of Michigan Department of Military and Veterans Affairs, and the Michigan Health Endowment Fund; consulting fees from SeeChange Health, HealthMine, the Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute, and the Washington State Office of the Attorney General; and honoraria from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, AbilTo Inc, the Kansas City Area Life Sciences Institute, the American Diabetes Association, the Luxembourg National Research Fund, the Donaghue Foundation, the National Science Foundation, the University of California Los Angeles, the University of Pennsylvania, Oak Ridge Associated Universities, and the University of Southern California outside the submitted work. No other disclosures were reported.

Figures

Figure.
Figure.. Self-Reported Use of Portal Messages and Charged Copays by Health Insurance
The adjusted estimated prevalence of having sent a portal message in the past year and being charged or having paid a copay for a portal message is shown. The models were adjusted for age, gender identity, race and ethnicity, educational level, income, living in a metropolitan statistical area, having home internet, number of times receiving medical care from a health care professional in the past year, and self-reported health status. Private health insurance was used as the reference group for analyses. Error bars indicate 95% CIs. TM indicates traditional Medicare; VA, Veterans Affairs. aIncludes respondents selecting retiree health plans, employer-sponsored insurance, or individual insurance plans purchased directly by individuals including from an online marketplace. bIncludes respondents selecting Medicaid as their only insurance, or Medicaid in addition to another type of insurance. cIncludes respondents selecting VA and TRICARE coverage. This category includes respondents who reported having VA or TRICARE coverage in addition to another type of insurance.
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References

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