The U.S. health insurance model frequently costs more and provides less care than systems in other Western nations. RAND's health insurance research began in 1971 with the 15-year Health Insurance Experiment, the only community-based experimental study of how cost-sharing arrangements affect people’s use of health services, their quality of care, and their health status. Subsequent research has continued to inform the U.S. policy debate.
PERIODICAL
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.
JOURNAL ARTICLE
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—about 4 percent of all health care spending among the nonelderly.
NEWS RELEASE
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—about 4 percent of all health care spending among the nonelderly.
BLOG
As the U.S. Supreme Court considers the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act'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's private-sector workforce.
REPORT
When enacting, implementing, and evaluating health care reform, policymakers should consider potential spillover effects on workers' compensation insurance. The experience of Massachusetts's heath care reform suggests that reform may reduce medical costs.
REPORT
Provides insights into the costs and challenges of providing health care to the elderly population.
JOURNAL ARTICLE
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.
JOURNAL ARTICLE
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.
COMMENTARY
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.
PROJECT
Employment trajectories following the onset of disability are poorly understood. Employer-focused policy interventions may reduce uptake in public disability insurance and disability-induced early retirement.
PROJECT
As the Affordable Care Act expands health insurance coverage in the U.S., the "cost" of applying for SSDI will decline for many. Studying the effect of Massachusetts health care reform in 2006 may provide insights into the impact the ACA may have on SSDI applications and awards.
JOURNAL ARTICLE
State small-group health insurance reforms, implemented in the 1990s, aimed at controlling the variability of health insurance premiums and to improve access to health insurance. These reforms only affected firms within a specific size range, and as a result, they may have affected the size of small firms around the legislative threshold and may also have affected the propensity of small firms to offer health insurance.
MULTIMEDIA
New RAND research finds that eliminating the requirement that all Americans have health insurance would sharply lower the number of people gaining coverage, but would not dramatically increase the cost of buying policies through new insurance exchanges. RAND Economist Christine Eibner discusses the ramifications.
REPORT
Eliminating a key part of health care reform that requires all Americans to have health insurance would sharply lower the number of people gaining coverage, but would not dramatically increase the cost of buying policies through new insurance exchanges.
RESEARCH BRIEF
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.
NEWS RELEASE
Eliminating a key part of health care reform that requires all Americans to have health insurance would sharply lower the number of people gaining coverage, but would not dramatically increase the cost of buying policies through new insurance exchanges.
JOURNAL ARTICLE
Rules that allow some small employers to avoid regulation under the federal Affordable Care Act are unlikely to have a major impact on the future cost of health insurance unless those rules are relaxed to allow more businesses to opt out.
JOURNAL ARTICLE
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
Rules that allow some small employers to avoid regulation under the federal Affordable Care Act are unlikely to have a major impact on the future cost of health insurance unless those rules are relaxed to allow more businesses to opt out.
NEWS RELEASE
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.
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