The Affordable Care Act: An Opportunity for Improving Care for Substance Use Disorders? 2014
The ACA expands coverage for substance use treatment, but provides no measures for assessing its quality.
Publications on the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act
2015
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Affordable Care Act Provision Lowered Out-of-Pocket Cost and Increased Colonoscopy Rates Among Men in Medicare 2015
Colorectal cancer screening is one of the few cancer screenings with an A rating from the US Preventive Services Task Force, meaning that the procedure confers a substantial health benefit.
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Alternatives to the ACA's Affordability Firewall 2015
The Affordable Care Act implements the employer mandate, which requires firms with more than 50 employees to offer health insurance or face penalties, and the individual "affordability firewall," which limits subsidies to individuals lacking access to alternative sources of coverage that are "affordable." This report examines the policy impacts of the affordability firewall and investigates two potential modifications.
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Can the Cadillac Tax Be Made Less Regressive by Replacing It with an Exclusion Cap? Methods and Results 2015
The Affordable Care Act's "Cadillac tax" consists of a 40-percent excise tax on premiums for employer-sponsored health plans in excess of a dollar limit. This report uses RAND's COMPARE microsimulation model to compare the effects of the Cadillac tax versus an alternative tax, based on an exclusion gap, on families in different income ranges.
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Comparing Employer-Sponsored and Federal Exchange Plans: Wide Variations in Cost Sharing for Prescription Drugs 2015
Our primary objective was to examine the variability in drug coverage in the exchanges across plan types (health maintenance organization or preferred provider organization) and metal tiers (bronze, silver, gold, and platinum).
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Connecting Consumers to Care 2015
The Affordable Care Act has reduced the number of uninsured; an emerging challenge is to help the newly insured choose coverage wisely and use it to access primary care and preventive services.
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Early Marketplace Enrollees Were Older and Used More Medication Than Later Enrollees: Marketplaces Pooled Risk 2015
Little is known about the health status of the 7.3 million Americans who enrolled in insurance plans through the Marketplaces established by the Affordable Care Act in 2014.
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The Economic Incidence of Health Care Spending in Vermont 2015
This report describes who ultimately pays for health care in Vermont by tracing spending back to the original funding source. The authors estimate the economic incidence of health spending in Vermont for 2012 and as projected for 2017.
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The Effect of Eliminating the Affordable Care Act's Tax Credits in Federally Facilitated Marketplaces 2015
In this research report, RAND Corporation researchers assess the expected change in enrollment and premiums in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act–compliant individual market in federally facilitated marketplace (FFM) states if the U.S. Supreme Court decides to eliminate subsidies in FFM states.
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Effects of Health Care Payment Models on Physician Practice in the United States 2015
The project reported here aimed to describe the effects that alternative health care payment models have on physicians and physician practices in the United States. Project findings should help guide efforts to improve current and future alternative payment programs and help physician practices succeed in these new payment models. The report provides both findings and recommendations.
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Employer, Insurer, and Industry Perspectives on Patient-Centered Comparative Effectiveness Research: Final Report 2016
On behalf of the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI), RAND conducted a series of focus groups to explore the views of payers, purchasers, and industry stakeholders on comparative effectiveness research (CER). This report describes stakeholders' health-related decisions, information needs, and views on being involved in CER. Key themes emerging from the discussions are presented, along with implications for PCORI's future work.
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From Coverage to Care: Strengthening and Facilitating Consumer Connections to the Health System 2015
To date, most Affordable Care Act implementation efforts have focused on getting individuals enrolled in health insurance coverage. Confirming that the newly insured access and remain engaged with appropriate health care has received less attention. This perspective describes lessons learned from conversations with a variety of health care industry stakeholders and calls for more-holistic thinking on ways to support consumers beyond enrollment.
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Home Visiting Start-Up: Lessons Learned from Program Replication in New Mexico 2015
Growth in federal, state, and private funding is fueling the initiation of home visiting programs around the country.
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How Do ACA Tax Subsidies Affect Premiums and Enrollment? 2015
Describes the extent to which eliminating the subsidies offered by the Affordable Care Act would disrupt the U.S. individual health insurance market.
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How Does Enrollment of Young Invincibles Affect Premiums in the ACA Individual Market? 2015
Describes the extent to which reduced enrollment of 18-to-34-year-olds in the U.S individual health insurance market would lead to increased premiums.
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How Does the ACA Individual Mandate Affect Enrollment and Premiums in the Individual Insurance Market? 2015
Describes how removing the Affordable Care Act's individual mandate would affect health insurance premiums and the overall numbered of insured.
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How Would Alternative Subsidy Structures Affect Stability in the ACA Individual Market? 2015
Describes the extent to which changing the subsidy structure of the Affordable Care Act would make the individual health insurance market more sensitive to the rate of young adult enrollment.
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Impact of Out-of-Pocket Spending Caps on Financial Burden of Those with Group Health Insurance 2015
Mandated uniform out-of-pocket caps for those with group insurance will benefit very few individuals, and will not result in substantial reductions in financial burden.
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Impact of the Cincinnati Aligning Forces for Quality Multi-Payer Patient Centered Medical Home Pilot on Health Care Quality, Utilization, and Costs 2015
To evaluate the potential for a patient-centered medical home initiative to reduce utilization and cost while improving quality, we examined a natural experiment involving 11 primary care practices in Cincinnati, Ohio.
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Improving the Affordable Care Act: An Assessment of Policy Options for Providing Subsidies 2015
A key challenge of health reform efforts is to make health insurance affordable for individuals and families who lack coverage without harming those with coverage or increasing federal spending.