Health Care Access

Featured

Access to health care refers to the ease with which an individual can obtain needed medical services. RAND research has examined the social, cultural, economic, and geographic factors that influence health care access worldwide; the effects of changes in access; and the relationship between access and health for specific U.S. populations—including racial and ethnic minorities, people with limited English proficiency, the uninsured, the elderly, children, and veterans.

  • A doctor looking at an x-ray next to an American flag

    Essay

    How Private Health Care Providers Could Better Serve Veterans

    Nov 7, 2018

    Almost a third of U.S. veterans live 40 miles or more from the nearest VA medical center, so the VA is trying to make it easier for them to use private providers closer to home. But it will take significant efforts to better prepare civilian doctors to deliver high-quality care to veterans.

  • Supporters of a "Medicare for All" plan gather on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., September 13, 2017, photo by Yuri Gripas/Reuters

    Report

    Spending Estimates Under Medicare for All

    Apr 10, 2019

    Under a Medicare for All plan similar to some proposals being discussed in Congress, total health expenditures would be an estimated 1.8 percent higher in 2019, relative to the status quo. While this is a small change in national spending, the federal government's health spending would increase substantially, rising by an estimated 221 percent.

Explore Health Care Access

Research conducted by