Financing the efficient delivery of medical services while reducing costs for consumers as well as health care providers is among the most challenging domestic policy problems many countries face. RAND addresses health economics issues through innovative, high-profile research in an effort to improve the efficiency of health care organizations, reduce costs for providers and consumers, and improve financing in health care markets.
This infographic presents findings from a RAND analysis of the economic and other effects of Medicaid expansion on the commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
This infographic presents findings from a RAND analysis of the economic and other effects of the Affordable Care Act on the state of Arkansas.
Reversing the rising tide of obesity and further reducing rates of tobacco use could produce substantial long-term dividends in terms of lives saved and disabling illnesses prevented. Communities, employers, and parents all have important roles.
Health information technology has not achieved its full potential, but its benefits should grow over time. Because health care is largely regulated at the state level, the states can play a valuable role as laboratories for innovative policies.
This research brief summarises the key findings of a literature review of grant peer review in the health sciences.
Current initiatives to report health care provider costs are unlikely to motivate consumers to select lower-cost providers. Public reports could better engage consumers by focusing on out-of-pocket costs and high-value providers.
An analysis of the effects of implementing the Affordable Care Act without an individual mandate found that over 12 million people who would have otherwise signed up for coverage will be uninsured and premium prices will increase by 2.4 percent.
This brief summarizes options for improving value for money in HIV funding by using a case study that focuses on the two largest funders, the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief and the Global Fund, and antiretroviral therapy.
Between 1990 and 2009, the number of emergency rooms (ERs) in nonrural U.S. hospitals declined by 27 percent (from 2,446 to 1,779). Economic factors play a central role in an ER's ability to remain open.
Physician cost profiling is intended to identify physicians with lower spending patterns, but RAND analysts found that common profiling methods result in 22 percent of physicians being assigned to the wrong cost category in a two-tier system.
Finds that the Affordable Care Act will increase the percentage of employers that offer health coverage to workers: from 57 percent to 80 percent for firms with 50 or fewer workers, and from 90 percent to 98 percent for firms with 51 to 100 workers.
Summarizes results of RAND's evaluation of the progress and impact of Arkansas' antismoking and health programs established with its share of tobacco settlement funds.
Presents information on the growing phenomenon of retail medical clinics, the types of patients they serve and the types of care they provide, and whether some common claims about retail clinics are supported by evidence.
An independent evaluation of the health reform proposal made this week by President Obama shows that the plan would reduce the number of uninsured Americans by 30 million by 2019—very similar to the results expected under separate legislation passed by the House and Senate.
As federal lawmakers prepare for a summit on health care, a new analysis shows that health reform legislation passed by the U.S. Senate would cut the number of uninsured Americans by about half and cost the federal government about $899 billion by 2019.
Examines how California's failure to meet federal air quality standards has affected hospitalizations and insurers' costs.
Compares how two health care reform bills, HR. 3962 and H.R. 3590, passed by the U.S. House and Senate, respectively, in late 2009 compare on a variety of projections made using the RAND COMPARE microsimulation model.
Using the COMPARE microsimulation model, estimates proposed health care reform legislation's effects on the number of uninsured, the costs to the federal government and the nation, revenues from penalty payments, and consumers' health care spending.
Describes the effects that prescription drug cost sharing has on drug spending, compliance with drug therapy, patient health, and overall health care costs.
Describes the characteristics of rural hospitals and those who use them and discusses the challenges these hospitals face.
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