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Economic Burden of Health Care

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Report

U.S. Prescription Drug Prices Are 2.56 Times Those in Other Countries

Jan 28, 2021

Prices for prescription drugs in the United States in 2018 were 256 percent of those in 32 comparison countries. For brand-name drugs, U.S. prices were 344 percent higher. But for generic drugs, they were only 84 percent of the average paid in other nations.
Commentary

Vaccine Nationalism Has Real Economic Consequences

Dec 30, 2020

Vaccine nationalism, in which countries prioritize their domestic needs at the expense of others, will have significant global economic consequences. Major economies actually have more to gain by helping to make an effective COVID-19 vaccine widely available globally.

Explore Economic Burden of Health Care

Research Brief

10Plan, How Would It Affect Health Care Spending by Consumers and the Federal Government

The 10Plan is a self-pay plan for individuals currently uninsured or covered by a private nongroup health insurance plan. The authors built a microsimulation model to estimate health care spending under both the status quo and the 10Plan.

Feb 25, 2021
Report

The 10Plan: An Alternative Approach to Health Care Financing

The 10Plan would require individuals to pay a copayment for each encounter but no premiums up front. They'd have Medicare rates, and could pay cash or borrow from the government at a low interest rate to pay for services. How would health care spending and federal costs change under the plan?

Jan 25, 2021
Essay

The Astronomical Price of Insulin Hurts American Families

More than 30 million Americans have diabetes, and nearly a quarter of them use insulin to manage their symptoms and prevent life-threatening complications. The price they have to pay for insulin is more than ten times higher than the average prices in 32 other countries combined.

Jan 6, 2021
Journal Article

Estimating the Cost of Growing the NHS Cancer Workforce in England by 2029

This research aims to understand the requirements for the NHS, and particularly for HEE, of increasing the seven priority cancer workforces by 45 per cent by 2029.

Oct 14, 2020
Dissertation

Three Essays In Health Policy and Economics: Surprise Out-of-Network Medical Bills and Out-of-Network Health Care Provider Payment in the United States

Three essays addressing surprise out-of-network medical bills and out-of-network health care provider payment.

Jul 16, 2020
News Release

Limiting Out-of-Network Payments to Hospitals Could Produce Cost Savings Similar to Single-Payer Options

Placing limits on what hospitals can collect for out-of-network care could yield savings similar to more-sweeping proposals such as Medicare for All or setting global health spending caps. Because such an approach has the possibility to sharply cut hospital revenues, any cap would need to be set carefully as to not overly disrupt hospital operations.

Mar 12, 2020
Report

The Effects of Limiting Payments to Hospitals for Out-of-Network Care

There is growing interest among U.S. policymakers to use out-of-network payment limits to curb surprise medical bills and as a tool to control rising health care costs. How might such limits affect negotiated in-network prices and total payments for hospital care?

Mar 12, 2020
Research Brief

Options for funding the NHS and social care in the UK: How the UK general public would prefer extra funds to be raised

What is the publicly preferred way to raise additional funds needed to meet growing demand for health and social care. Options are taxation, insurance, or user charges. We analyse the preferences of the UK general public using a choice experiment.

Oct 7, 2019
Blog

Why Are Drug Prices So High in the United States?

Ezekiel J. Emanuel is vice provost for global initiatives at the University of Pennsylvania and chair of the Department of Medical Ethics and Health Policy. In 2018, he delivered the Albert P. Williams Lecture on Health Policy at RAND, where he offered a framework for thinking about drug pricing.

May 3, 2019
Journal Article

Public Acceptability of Health and Social Care Funding Options: Funding Options for the NHS and Social Care in the UK

An assessment of how popular different funding approaches for the NHS and social care are among the general public, as part of a wider study on feasible options for the future funding of health and social care in the UK.

Feb 20, 2019
Multimedia

Albert P. Williams Lecture on Health Policy: What's the Fair Price of a Drug?

In this Events @ RAND podcast, Ezekiel J. Emanuel delivers the 2018 Albert P. Williams Lecture on Health Policy. Emanuel explains why drug prices are so high and proposes a policy solution.

Oct 17, 2018
Journal Article

Identifying Options for Funding the NHS and Social Care in the UK: International Evidence

As part of a larger project identifying feasible options for the future funding of health & social care in the UK, this paper explores how 16 high-income countries have implemented changes to their funding systems to better meet the challenges ahead.

Jul 10, 2018
Commentary

Extending Marketplace Tax Credits Would Make Coverage More Affordable for Middle-Income Adults

Paying for health care coverage is a challenge for Americans facing rising premiums, deductibles, and copayments. The ACA's tax credits that make marketplace insurance more affordable for lower-income individuals should be extended to middle-income adults aged 50–64.

Jul 27, 2017
Commentary

Effects of Removing Maternity Care and Mental Health Treatment from Coverage Requirements

The American Health Care Act passed by the U.S. House of Representatives to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act allows states to waive benefits that the ACA deemed “essential.” Dropping maternity care coverage, for example, would reduce premiums by 5 percent but increase out-of-pocket spending for new mothers.

May 18, 2017
Journal Article

Child Poverty in the United States Today: Introduction and Executive Summary

This executive summary summarizes what is known about the scope of childhood poverty in the United States today, as well as its effects on health and well-being for U.S children.

Apr 20, 2016
Project

Small Ideas for Saving Big Health Care Dollars

Big proposals to rein in health care spending in the United States have encountered stiff political and organizational resistance. But adopting a combination of smaller ideas could save the U.S. health care system a total of up to $26 billion a year.

Mar 8, 2016
Commentary

What Happens If the ACA's Tax Credits Are Replaced with Premium Support?

As policymakers consider alternatives to reduce the federal government's financial burden from providing subsidies under the ACA, they should consider the consequences for enrollees. Existing premium-support models yield considerable savings for the federal government but could create age and income disparities in coverage.

Nov 24, 2015
Journal Article

Roles of Prices, Poverty, and Health in Medicare and Private Spending in Texas

Variation in private spending reflects the ability of the local population to pay for healthcare, whereas variation in Medicare is more driven by health status.

Jul 7, 2015
Commentary

Why Obamacare Lives

Economic reasoning took center stage in the Supreme Court's decision on Thursday to uphold the legality of the Affordable Care Act's subsidies in all states. The subsidies are critical to ensuring that healthy people, with lower health care costs, have adequate incentive to enroll.

Jun 26, 2015
Content

The Affordable Care Act: An Overview of the Evidence

RAND researchers have analyzed the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act—the sweeping health care reform sometimes known as “Obamacare”—from many different angles. Here's what they've learned.

Apr 8, 2015

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