Health insurance plans with high deductibles – some greater than $5,000 annually – cause policyholders to delay care and put families in financial jeopardy should a health crisis arise, according to a report Wednesday night from the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research.

“When that much money is on the line, a health emergency can also become a financial emergency,” said Dylan Roby, the report’s lead author.

“A lot of people think they are covered and they are really underinsured,” Dora Barilla, an assistant professor in the Loma Linda University School of Public Health, said, commenting on the report.

These high-deductible policies offer lower monthly premiums in return for higher out-of-pocket spending for health care services and represent a rapidly growing segment of the health insurance market.