<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<feed xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom">

     <title>RAND Research Topic: Health Care Costs</title>
     <link rel="self" href="http://www.rand.org/topics/health-care-costs.xml"/>
     <updated>2012-05-25T23:36:33Z</updated>
     <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" hreflang="en" href="http://www.rand.org/topics/health-care-costs.html" />
     <rights>Copyright (c) 2012, The RAND Corporation</rights>
     <author>
       <name>RAND Corporation</name>
     </author>
     <id>http://www.rand.org/topics/health-care-costs.html</id>
	 
 <entry>
   <title type="html">Eliminating Individual Mandate Would Decrease Coverage, Increase Spending</title>
   <id>http://www.rand.org/publications/randreview/issues/2012/spring/news2.html</id>
   <published>May 11, 2012</published>
   <updated>May 11, 2012</updated>
   <summary type="html">If the individual mandate requiring all Americans to have health insurance were eliminated, it would sharply reduce the number of people gaining coverage and slightly increase the cost for those who do buy policies through the new insurance exchanges.</summary>
   <link rel="alternate" type="text/xhtml" hreflang="en" title="Read More" href="http://www.rand.org/publications/randreview/issues/2012/spring/news2.html" />
   
 </entry>
 
 <entry>
   <title type="html">Allowances for Spinal Hardware under California&amp;rsquo;s Official Medical Fee Schedule: Issues and Options</title>
   <id>http://www.rand.org/pubs/testimonies/CT375.html</id>
   <published>May 9, 2012</published>
   <updated>May 9, 2012</updated>
   <summary type="html">Testimony presented before the California State Senate Labor and Industrial Relations Committee on May 9, 2012.</summary>
   <link rel="alternate" type="text/xhtml" hreflang="en" title="Read More" href="http://www.rand.org/pubs/testimonies/CT375.html" />
   
 </entry>
 
 <entry>
   <title type="html">Expanding Consumer-Directed Health Plans Could Help Cut Overall Health Care Spending</title>
   <id>http://www.rand.org/pubs/external_publications/EP201200104.html</id>
   <published>May 7, 2012</published>
   <updated>May 7, 2012</updated>
   <summary type="html">If consumer-directed health plans grow to account for half of all employer-sponsored insurance in the United States, health costs could drop by $57 billion annually&amp;mdash;about 4 percent of all health care spending among the nonelderly.</summary>
   <link rel="alternate" type="text/xhtml" hreflang="en" title="Read More" href="http://www.rand.org/pubs/external_publications/EP201200104.html" />
   
 </entry>
 
 <entry>
   <title type="html">Expanding Consumer-Directed Health Plans Could Help Cut Overall Health Care Spending</title>
   <id>http://www.rand.org/news/press/2012/05/07/index1.html</id>
   <published>May 7, 2012</published>
   <updated>May 7, 2012</updated>
   <summary type="html">If consumer-directed health plans grow to account for half of all employer-sponsored insurance in the United States, health costs could drop by $57 billion annually&amp;mdash;about 4 percent of all health care spending among the nonelderly.</summary>
   <link rel="alternate" type="text/xhtml" hreflang="en" title="Read More" href="http://www.rand.org/news/press/2012/05/07/index1.html" />
   
 </entry>
 
 <entry>
   <title type="html">Would the Affordable Care Act Lead to Reductions in Employer-Sponsored Coverage?</title>
   <id>http://www.rand.org/blog/2012/05/would-the-affordable-care-act-lead-to-reductions-in.html</id>
   <published>May 4, 2012</published>
   <updated>May 4, 2012</updated>
   <summary type="html">As the U.S. Supreme Court considers the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act&apos;s (ACA) individual mandate, one of the questions being debated is what effect the mandate would have on employer-sponsored health insurance coverage. A factor to consider in this is the effect the ACA would have on small businesses, which employ the majority of America&apos;s private-sector workforce.</summary>
   <link rel="alternate" type="text/xhtml" hreflang="en" title="Read More" href="http://www.rand.org/blog/2012/05/would-the-affordable-care-act-lead-to-reductions-in.html" />
   
 </entry>
 
 <entry>
   <title type="html">Cost-effectiveness Analysis of Interferon Beta-1b for the Treatment of Patients with a First Clinical Event Suggestive of Multiple Sclerosis</title>
   <id>http://www.rand.org/pubs/external_publications/EP201200110.html</id>
   <published>May 1, 2012</published>
   <updated>May 1, 2012</updated>
   <summary type="html">This study assesses, from a Swedish societal perspective, the cost effectiveness of interferon &#946;-1b (IFNB-1b) after an initial clinical event suggestive of multiple sclerosis (MS) (ie, early treatment) compared with treatment after onset of clinically definite MS (CDMS) (ie, delayed treatment).</summary>
   <link rel="alternate" type="text/xhtml" hreflang="en" title="Read More" href="http://www.rand.org/pubs/external_publications/EP201200110.html" />
   
 </entry>
 
 <entry>
   <title type="html">What is the Impact of Health Care Reform on Workers&apos; Compensation Medical Care?</title>
   <id>http://www.rand.org/pubs/technical_reports/TR1216.html</id>
   <published>Apr 23, 2012</published>
   <updated>Apr 23, 2012</updated>
   <summary type="html">When enacting, implementing, and evaluating health care reform, policymakers should consider potential spillover effects on workers&apos; compensation insurance. The experience of Massachusetts&apos;s heath care reform suggests that reform may reduce medical costs.</summary>
   <link rel="alternate" type="text/xhtml" hreflang="en" title="Read More" href="http://www.rand.org/pubs/technical_reports/TR1216.html" />
   
 </entry>
 
 <entry>
   <title type="html">Rising Health Care Costs and the Middle Class</title>
   <id>http://www.rand.org/blog/2012/04/rising-health-care-costs-and-the-middle-class.html</id>
   <published>Apr 13, 2012</published>
   <updated>Apr 13, 2012</updated>
   <summary type="html">A new RAND study finds that rising health care costs reduce the availability of and enrollment in employment-based private health insurance, and the financial protection provided by it, especially for middle class families.</summary>
   <link rel="alternate" type="text/xhtml" hreflang="en" title="Read More" href="http://www.rand.org/blog/2012/04/rising-health-care-costs-and-the-middle-class.html" />
   
 </entry>
 
 <entry>
   <title type="html">Survey Results Show That Adults Are Willing to Pay Higher Insurance Premiums for Generous Coverage of Specialty Drugs</title>
   <id>http://www.rand.org/pubs/external_publications/EP20120092.html</id>
   <published>Apr 1, 2012</published>
   <updated>Apr 1, 2012</updated>
   <summary type="html">This study estimated how healthy people value insurance coverage of specialty drugs, defined as high-cost drugs that treat cancer and other serious health conditions like multiple sclerosis, by quantifying willingness to pay via a survey.</summary>
   <link rel="alternate" type="text/xhtml" hreflang="en" title="Read More" href="http://www.rand.org/pubs/external_publications/EP20120092.html" />
   
 </entry>
 
 <entry>
   <title type="html">An Analysis of Whether Higher Health Care Spending in the United States Versus Europe Is &apos;Worth It&apos; in the Case of Cancer</title>
   <id>http://www.rand.org/pubs/external_publications/EP20120091.html</id>
   <published>Apr 1, 2012</published>
   <updated>Apr 1, 2012</updated>
   <summary type="html">The higher-cost US system of cancer care delivery may be worth it, although further research is required to determine what specific tools or treatments are driving improved cancer survival in the United States.</summary>
   <link rel="alternate" type="text/xhtml" hreflang="en" title="Read More" href="http://www.rand.org/pubs/external_publications/EP20120091.html" />
   
 </entry>
 
 <entry>
   <title type="html">Consumers&apos; and Providers&apos; Responses to Public Cost Reports, and How to Raise the Likelihood of Achieving Desired Results</title>
   <id>http://www.rand.org/pubs/external_publications/EP20120080.html</id>
   <published>Apr 1, 2012</published>
   <updated>Apr 1, 2012</updated>
   <summary type="html">Public reporting of health care costs is intended to motivate consumers to choose lower cost providers, and motivate providers to lower costs to retain market share.  Measures should be chosen based on which pathway policymakers intend to influence.</summary>
   <link rel="alternate" type="text/xhtml" hreflang="en" title="Read More" href="http://www.rand.org/pubs/external_publications/EP20120080.html" />
   
 </entry>
 
 <entry>
   <title type="html">Eliminating Waste in US Health Care</title>
   <id>http://www.rand.org/pubs/external_publications/EP201200117.html</id>
   <published>Apr 1, 2012</published>
   <updated>Apr 1, 2012</updated>
   <summary type="html">The need is urgent to bring US health care costs into a sustainable range for both public and private payers.</summary>
   <link rel="alternate" type="text/xhtml" hreflang="en" title="Read More" href="http://www.rand.org/pubs/external_publications/EP201200117.html" />
   
 </entry>
 
 <entry>
   <title type="html">The Real Cost of Healthcare</title>
   <id>http://www.rand.org/commentary/2012/03/29/LAT.html</id>
   <published>Mar 29, 2012</published>
   <updated>Mar 29, 2012</updated>
   <summary type="html">What do we have to show for all of this spending? Lots of testing and treatment, but not enough health, writes Art Kellermann.</summary>
   <link rel="alternate" type="text/xhtml" hreflang="en" title="Read More" href="http://www.rand.org/commentary/2012/03/29/LAT.html" />
   
 </entry>
 
 <entry>
   <title type="html">National Evaluation of the DH Integrated Care Pilots</title>
   <id>http://www.rand.org/pubs/technical_reports/TR1164.html</id>
   <published>Mar 22, 2012</published>
   <updated>Mar 22, 2012</updated>
   <summary type="html">This report is the result of an evaluation of the 16 DH integrated care pilots (ICPs).</summary>
   <link rel="alternate" type="text/xhtml" hreflang="en" title="Read More" href="http://www.rand.org/pubs/technical_reports/TR1164.html" />
   
 </entry>
 
 <entry>
   <title type="html">National Evaluation of the DH Integrated Care Pilots: Appendices</title>
   <id>http://www.rand.org/pubs/technical_reports/TR1164z2.html</id>
   <published>Mar 22, 2012</published>
   <updated>Mar 22, 2012</updated>
   <summary type="html">This report contains appendices to the result of an evaluation of the 16 DH integrated care pilots (ICPs).</summary>
   <link rel="alternate" type="text/xhtml" hreflang="en" title="Read More" href="http://www.rand.org/pubs/technical_reports/TR1164z2.html" />
   
 </entry>
 
 <entry>
   <title type="html">National Evaluation of the DH Integrated Care Pilots: Summary</title>
   <id>http://www.rand.org/pubs/technical_reports/TR1164z1.html</id>
   <published>Mar 22, 2012</published>
   <updated>Mar 22, 2012</updated>
   <summary type="html">This report is a summary of the result of an evaluation of the 16 DH integrated care pilots (ICPs).
</summary>
   <link rel="alternate" type="text/xhtml" hreflang="en" title="Read More" href="http://www.rand.org/pubs/technical_reports/TR1164z1.html" />
   
 </entry>
 
 <entry>
   <title type="html">What Happens Without the Individual Mandate?</title>
   <id>http://www.rand.org/commentary/2012/03/21/USAT.html</id>
   <published>Mar 21, 2012</published>
   <updated>Mar 21, 2012</updated>
   <summary type="html">If the individual mandate were ruled unconstitutional, subsidies and the age structure of premiums should keep enough healthy people in the insurance exchanges to prevent huge spikes in premiums, write Carter C. Price and Christine Eibner.</summary>
   <link rel="alternate" type="text/xhtml" hreflang="en" title="Read More" href="http://www.rand.org/commentary/2012/03/21/USAT.html" />
   
 </entry>
 
 <entry>
   <title type="html">Eliminating Discretionary Use of Anesthesia Providers During Gastroenterology Procedures Could Generate $1.1 Billion in Savings per Year</title>
   <id>http://www.rand.org/pubs/research_briefs/RB9648.html</id>
   <published>Mar 20, 2012</published>
   <updated>Mar 20, 2012</updated>
   <summary type="html">The use of dedicated anesthesia providers for routine gastroenterology (GI) procedures is seen as medically justifiable only for high-risk patients. Eliminating these services for low-risk patients could generate $1.1 billion in savings per year.</summary>
   <link rel="alternate" type="text/xhtml" hreflang="en" title="Read More" href="http://www.rand.org/pubs/research_briefs/RB9648.html" />
   
 </entry>
 
 <entry>
   <title type="html">Use of Anesthesia Providers During Gastroenterology Procedures Has Increased Rapidly, but May Be Unneeded</title>
   <id>http://www.rand.org/pubs/external_publications/EP20120073.html</id>
   <published>Mar 20, 2012</published>
   <updated>Mar 20, 2012</updated>
   <summary type="html">The use of dedicated anesthesia providers for routine gastroenterology (GI) procedures is seen as medically justifiable only for high-risk patients. Eliminating these services for low-risk patients could generate $1.1 billion in savings per year.</summary>
   <link rel="alternate" type="text/xhtml" hreflang="en" title="Read More" href="http://www.rand.org/pubs/external_publications/EP20120073.html" />
   
 </entry>
 
 <entry>
   <title type="html">Use of Anesthesia Providers During Gastroenterology Procedures Has Increased Rapidly, but May Be Unneeded</title>
   <id>http://www.rand.org/news/press/2012/03/20.html</id>
   <published>Mar 20, 2012</published>
   <updated>Mar 20, 2012</updated>
   <summary type="html">Use of anesthesia providers to monitor sedation during screening colonoscopies and other outpatient gastroenterology procedures more than doubled from 2003 to 2009 in the United States, with most of the increase among low-risk patients who may not need this service.</summary>
   <link rel="alternate" type="text/xhtml" hreflang="en" title="Read More" href="http://www.rand.org/news/press/2012/03/20.html" />
   
 </entry>
 
 </feed>

