Much of the care provided in the United States is unnecessary or too expensive. Cost sharing is one way to try to push patients to be more thoughtful consumers of medical care. The blunt way we use it, however, often does more harm than good.

Cost sharing is a blanket term for things like deductibles, co-payments and co-insurance. If patients are spending money “out-of-pocket” — their own money — they might think harder about whether care is worth it.

Recent news has highlighted one aspect of cost sharing in the United States that seems to make little sense: the notion of making it start over each year. Because of the way deductibles work, you pay them in the early months of the year, when the flu (and now coronavirus) are hitting.

Since few people have met their deductible yet, many will think twice about getting care now — right when the medical community most wants them to. Recognizing this, Gov. Andrew Cuomo recently announced that New York insurers should waive cost sharing for coronavirus testing. But his powers apply only to Medicaid, where cost sharing is already minimal. Those who have private insurance through their jobs or Medicare — which is most people and also those people (older Americans) who tend to be at highest risk — are under federal regulation.