Although many states have passed some type of law affecting naloxone availability, only laws allowing direct dispensing by pharmacists appear to be useful. Communities in which access to naloxone is improved should prepare for increases in nonfatal overdoses and link these individuals to effective treatment.
Large price discrepancies exist between what private health plans pay for hospital services and what Medicare pays. RAND Corporation researchers used data from three sources — self-insured employers, state-based all-payer claims databases, and health plans — to assess $13 billion in hospital spending in terms of price levels, variation, and trends from 2015 to 2017 in 25 states. The report lists prices relative to Medicare for specific hospitals.
Testimony presented before the House Oversight and Reform Subcommittee on National Security on May 8, 2019.
This report describes an extension of the RAND Corporation's evaluation of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration's Primary and Behavioral Health Care Integration (PBHCI) grants program. The current study extends previous work by investigating the impact of PBHCI on consumers' health care utilization, total costs of care to Medicaid, and quality of care in three states.
Primary care spending represents a small percentage -- less than 3% -- of total fee-for-service Medicare spending, though it varies substantially across populations and states.
Beneficiaries who are dually enrolled in Medicare and Medicaid are less likely to be enrolled in Medicare Advantage (MA) plans that perform well in the MA Star Rating program than non–dually enrolled beneficiaries. The authors identify the types of services that MA plans implement to meet the needs of dually enrolled and other high-cost, high-need beneficiaries, as well as the types of resources needed to implement these services.
Beneficiaries dually enrolled in Medicare and Medicaid are less likely to receive high-quality care. But some plans have identified effective ways to meet the needs of their dually enrolled beneficiaries. This report identifies the types of services that Medicare Advantage plans implement to meet the needs of dually enrolled and other high-cost, high-need beneficiaries and presents a typology of the services that plans implement.
Rural communities have significantly fewer certified registered nurse anesthetists and fewer anesthesiologists than nonrural communities.
Identifying high-impact chronic pain and reporting outcomes of trials by chronic pain impact level could help ensure that adequate resources are directed toward improving outcomes of the chronic pain patients in greatest need.
Opioid dosage and use increased annually for individuals with all levels of chronic pain; those with high-impact pain had average dosing 5.5 times higher than those with low-impact pain.
Testimony submitted to the Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs on April 10, 2019.
This report draws from previous RAND research on single-payer health care to estimate the 2019 spending effects of a Medicare for All plan similar to some proposals being discussed in Congress.
The growing use of medication treatment for opioid use disorder in the West Virginia Medicaid expansion population provides an opportunity to reduce overdose deaths.
This policy brief draws on recent study findings, state planning documents, and a review of the literature to describe gaps and deficiencies in the behavioral health workforce that serves older adults in California.
This policy brief promotes recommendations for specific age-relevant indicator utilization and for an expanded system of uniform and transparent data for all types of MHSA-funded programs.
The study provides further evidence about the empirical overlap between EWB and HRQOL. EWB researchers need to explicitly incorporate HRQOL measures and vice versa in their research.
This article identifies which aspects of life are most important to adults with spinal cord injury (SCI) and compares perspectives in the United States and the United Kingdom.
This article describes preferences for survey instruments on health-related quality of life and subjective well-being among adults with spinal cord injury, and compares perspectives on the instruments between the United States and the United Kingdom.
This article discusses the development and psychometric evaluation of a self-reported instrument assessing physical fatigability and mental fatigability in adults with spinal cord injury.
This article explores the potential of systematically elicited narratives about experiences with outpatient care to enrich quality improvement.
