Health Care Cost Inflation

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Featured at RAND

Accelerating Health Care Costs Wiping Out Much of Americans' Income Gains

Fast-rising health care costs have eaten nearly all the income gains made by a median-income American family of four over the past decade, leaving them with just $95 per month in extra income, after accounting for taxes and price increases.

All Items (20)

COMMENTARY

The Real Cost of Healthcare — Mar 29, 2012

What do we have to show for all of this spending? Lots of testing and treatment, but not enough health, writes Art Kellermann.

JOURNAL ARTICLE

Financial Burden of Prescription Drugs Is Dropping, but Costs Remain a Challenge for Many Families — Feb 8, 2012

The financial burden Americans face paying out-of-pocket costs for prescription drugs has declined, although prescription costs remain a significant challenge for people with lower incomes and those with public insurance.

NEWS RELEASE

Financial Burden of Prescription Drugs Is Dropping, but Costs Remain a Challenge for Many Families — Feb 8, 2012

The financial burden Americans face paying out-of-pocket costs for prescription drugs has declined, although prescription costs remain a significant challenge for people with lower incomes and those with public insurance.

MULTIMEDIA

A Bitter Pill: Soaring Health Care Spending and the American Family — Jan 13, 2012

Between 1999 and 2009, U.S. health care spending nearly doubled, climbing from $1.3 trillion to $2.5 trillion. The figures are striking, but what have they meant for individual Americans?

JOURNAL ARTICLE

Impacts of Rising Health Care Costs on Families with Employment-Based Private Insurance: A National Analysis with State Fixed Effects — Jan 1, 2012

Rising health costs reduce employment-based private insurance availability and enrollment, and the financial protection provided by it, especially for middle-class families.

NEWS RELEASE

Use of Retail Medical Clinics Rises 10-Fold Over Two-Year Period — Nov 22, 2011

Use of retail medical clinics located in pharmacies and other retail settings increased tenfold between 2007 and 2009. The determining factors in choosing one over a physician's office were found to be age, health status, income, and proximity to the clinic.

REPORT

Challenges to Value-Enhancing Innovation in Health Care Delivery: Commonalities and Contrasts with Innovation in Drugs and Devices — Oct 4, 2011

Limiting the growth of health care costs while improving population health poses important and difficult challenges for policymakers. The paper considers innovation in drugs, devices, and methods of delivering health care, with an emphasis on delivery. The authors argue that policymakers should try to encourage innovative activities that are worth their social costs and discourage activities that are not worth their social costs.

NEWS RELEASE

Consumers May Have More Control Over Health Care Costs Than Previously Thought — Sep 29, 2011

The historic RAND Health Insurance Experiment found that patients had little or no control over their health care spending once they began to receive a physician's care, but this has changed for those enrolled in consumer-directed health plans.

JOURNAL ARTICLE

Consumers May Have More Control Over Health Care Costs Than Previously Thought — Sep 29, 2011

The historic RAND Health Insurance Experiment found that patients had little or no control over their health care spending once they began to receive a physician's care, but this has changed for those enrolled in consumer-directed health plans.

NEWS RELEASE

Consolidation of Health Plans May Help Lower Hospital Costs — Sep 7, 2011

Increased consolidation among health plans nationally may benefit consumers by lowering hospital prices, at least in those regions where health plans are the most consolidated.

JOURNAL ARTICLE

Consolidation of Health Plans May Help Lower Hospital Costs — Sep 7, 2011

Increased consolidation among health plans nationally may benefit consumers by lowering hospital prices, at least in those regions where health plans are the most consolidated.

NEWS RELEASE

Accelerating Health Care Costs Wiping Out Much of Americans' Income Gains — Sep 7, 2011

Fast-rising health care costs have eaten nearly all the income gains made by a median-income American family of four over the past decade, leaving them with just $95 per month in extra income, after accounting for taxes and price increases.

JOURNAL ARTICLE

A Decade of Health Care Cost Growth Has Wiped Out Real Income Gains for an Average US Family — Aug 31, 2011

This article translates aggregate numbers about health spending into concrete measures that consumers can relate to.

COMMENTARY

Worth Its Weight in Gold? — Apr 21, 2011

In terms of healthcare use and chronic health conditions, obesity is comparable to aging 20 years, with the health of a 30 year old resembling that of a 50 year old, writes Roland Sturm.

JOURNAL ARTICLE

Wrestling with the High Price of Cancer Care: Should We Control Costs By Individuals' Ability to Pay or Society's Willingness to Pay? — Dec 31, 2009

Rising costs of cancer treatment raise questions about how to ensure that patients receive access to the best therapy that is a "good value" - both from the perspective of the patient and all who pay for health care (i.e., through taxes, insurance).

COMMENTARY

Finally, Presidential Support for the Individual Mandate — Sep 8, 2009

RAND's latest analysis of options for reducing the number of uninsured shows that among all the options included in the House tri-committee bill, the Senate HELP bill, and the proposal released by Senator Max Baucus, the individual mandate would have the greatest impact, writes Elizabeth McGlynn.

JOURNAL ARTICLE

Seven Ideas to Improve Quality — Dec 31, 2007

Despite the enormous and ongoing increase in health care expenditures, patients receive only half of recommended care, and many receive care that is equivocal or harmful. Ideas to improve quality are examined.

JOURNAL ARTICLE

Effects of the Relative Fee Structure on the Use of Surgical Operations — Dec 31, 1992

The theory suggests an empirical test of whether surgeons create demand for surgery.

JOURNAL ARTICLE

The Health Care Resource Allocation Debate: Defining Our Terms — Dec 31, 1990

The problem of health care distribution in the United States demands immediate action.

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