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Measuring Health Care Costs

As health care costs rise, policymakers and industry leaders are increasingly interested in developing accurate ways to measure and, ultimately, to try to reduce them for the individual patient as well as for society as a whole. RAND researchers have sought to measure the health care costs of state and federal health plans, hospice treatment, and certain health behaviors.

Research conducted by: RAND Health

News Releases (2)

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

Accelerating Health Care Costs Wiping Out Much of Americans' Income Gains — Sep 8, 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.