Facts you can use, analysis you can trust
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COMPARE (Comprehensive Assessment of Reform Efforts) is a first-of-its kind online resource that provides one-stop shopping for objective analysis of health policy issues. Features of the innovative site include:
- facts and figures about the current state of the U.S. health care system, focusing on key dimensions of health system performance
- description of policy options for changing the health care system
- inventory and status of prominent federal, state, and private health care reform proposals
The centerpiece of COMPARE is a policy options "dashboard" highlighting how various policy choices would affect a range of outcomes such as costs to government and others, quality of care, access to care, and the ease with which change could be implemented. Information on the dashboard integrates available evidence about the likely effects of policies and the results of a state-of-the-art microsimulation model.
The COMPARE microsimulation model makes it possible to see how specific details of a policy (e.g., changing eligibility requirements for Medicaid) affect its results (e.g., reduction in the number of uninsured). Thus COMPARE can be used not only to assess proposals that have been made but also to help decisionmakers design policies.
COMPARE, which was launched on January 13, 2009, will become an essential tool for policymakers. It is a global positioning system for health care policy, telling us where we are now and where new proposals are likely to take us in the immensely complex terrain of health care reform. COMPARE is available to everyone at www.randcompare.org.
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