Medicare

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Veterans Health Care, Media Literacy, Sleep Retreats: RAND Weekly Recap

This weekly recap focuses on the challenges of VA community care, the importance of improving middle schoolers' media literacy skills, tips to improve sleep, and more.

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Australia's Fires, Artificial Intelligence, Fentanyl: RAND Weekly Recap

This weekly recap focuses on Australia's devastating fires, how artificial intelligence could manipulate the masses, the fentanyl crisis, and more.

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Medicare, Climate Change, 'Superbugs': RAND Weekly Recap

This weekly recap focuses on opening Medicare to Americans at age 50, how to assess climate change plans, antibiotic-resistant superbugs, and more.

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School Reform, Sanctions, Russian Aggression: RAND Weekly Recap

This weekly recap focuses on what educators think about school reform, the devastating impacts of economic sanctions, deterring Russian aggression in the Baltics, and more.

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Medicare for All, Principals, Cigarette Labels: RAND Weekly Recap

This weekly recap focuses on spending estimates under Medicare for All, the benefits of principal pipelines, graphic warning labels on cigarettes, and more.

commentary

Medicare for All: Sounds Good, but What Does It Mean?

Traditional Medicare is popular and therefore can lend a good brand name to coverage expansion proposals, but its limits can be significant for some patients. Those proposing and evaluating “Medicare for All” proposals should consider whether and how these limits are addressed.

David Anderson, Jodi L. Liu @jodilliu, et al.

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Tree of Life, Social Media, Korea: RAND Weekly Recap

This weekly recap focuses on the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting, countering Russian social media influence, how Korea could unify, and more.

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Improving MACRA's Chances of Success

Starting in 2019, the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act will integrate and potentially simplify performance measurement by combining many measures and programs. Research provides insight into how to avoid pitfalls in MACRA's rollout.

Adam J. Rose, Peter S. Hussey, et al.

commentary

Easing the Pain When Critical Medications Are No Longer Covered

Allowing insurance companies to limit the drugs they cover is necessary to give them leverage that can result in lower medication costs for all patients. Still, there are ways to make the process more transparent and manageable.

Erin Audrey Taylor

essay

Science and the Healing Arts

Americans spend billions of dollars out of pocket seeking relief from chronic conditions in alternative schools of health, such as acupuncture or chiropractic. What would it take to more fully integrate such practices into the mainstream?

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Medicare at 50: How Reforming End-of-Life Care Could Benefit It for Years to Come

As Medicare turns 50, skyrocketing health care costs and the aging of baby boomers both threaten the program's long-term viability. One solution that could go a long way would be to change the way the program handles and pays for end-of-life care.

Erin Audrey Taylor

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Let People Make Their Own End-of-Life Decisions

Major advances in health technology have helped people to live longer, but not necessarily better, lives. Medicare recently announced plans to reimburse providers for time spent counseling patients and their caregivers about the kind of care patients would want to receive near the end of their lives.

Sangeeta C. Ahluwalia @AhluwaliaPhD, Neil S. Wenger, et al.

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Five Years of the Affordable Care Act

The Affordable Care Act has officially been part of the U.S. health care landscape for five years. We reflect on the twists and turns that followed its passage and the RAND research that informed debates along the way, and look ahead to the future of the ACA.

commentary

Putting Patients First Can Result in Better Care Overall

Better patient care experiences are associated with higher levels of adherence to recommended prevention and treatment processes, better clinical outcomes, better patient safety within hospitals, and less health care utilization.

Rebecca Anhang Price, Marc N. Elliott, et al.

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10 Ways Innovation Could Help Cure the U.S. Health Spending Problem

Many studies grapple with how to control spending by considering changing how existing technologies are used. But what if the problem could be attacked at its root by changing which drugs and devices are invented in the first place?

Steven Garber