Health, Health Care, and Aging

Featured

RAND advances understanding of health and health behaviors, and examines how the organization and financing of care affect costs, quality, and access. Our body of research includes innovative studies of health insurance, health care reform, and health information technology, as well as obesity, substance use disorders, and PTSD. RAND findings also help inform policies that aim to improve the health of seniors and the care they receive.

  • Young white woman looking upset sitting on the floor indoors with a dog next to her, photo by ArtistGNDphotography/Getty Images

    Commentary

    How Do We Stop Relying on 911 to Handle Mental Health Crises?

    Almost half of Americans are afraid that 911 is not a safe option to call for someone undergoing a behavioral health problem—and with good reason. Broader advertising and outreach about the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline is necessary. People simply can't call what they don't know about.

    Nov 15, 2023

  • Health care staff stacking their hands together in a hospital, photo by PeopleImages/Getty Images

    Report

    How to Strengthen Virginia's Health Care Workforce

    Like the United States as a whole, Virginia faces a significant shortage of health care workers in nursing, primary care, and behavioral health. Multiple interventions could boost recruitment, retention, and the structural efficiency of health care delivered by these professions.

    Nov 15, 2023

Topics in Focus:

Explore Health, Health Care, and Aging

  • A woman participates in a citizen science project to collect data about horseshoe crab populations in Cedar Key, Florida, March 31, 2017, photo by Florida Sea Grant

    Essay

    Citizen Science Helps Communities Participate in, Understand, and Trust Science

    Good citizen science brings a community together and helps it prepare for, respond to, and recover from disasters. A RAND guide takes non-expert investigators from the early stages of defining their questions and setting their goals, through building their teams, to planning for action.

    Jan 4, 2022

  • COVAX program vaccines arrive at the Mons. Oscar Arnulfo Romero International Airport, in San Luis Talpa, El Salvador, March 11, 2021, photo by Jose Cabezas/Reuters

    Commentary

    America Can Still Deliver on Global Vaccine Diplomacy

    It is hard to see how science alone can end the pandemic without the rallying power of global diplomacy. The United States has played a leadership role in previous outbreaks, such as Ebola. It could play a similar role now to help consign the current pandemic to epidemic status.

    Dec 28, 2021

  • Closeup of a hand writing a prescription, photo by megaflopp/Getty Images

    News Release

    Opioid Prescribing Declines, but Cuts Are Not Uniform Across Locations, Age Groups, or Type of Prescriber

    The volume of prescription opioids dispensed from retail pharmacies declined by 21 percent from 2008 to 2018, but the decline was not uniform across geographic areas, among types of patients, or by type of prescriber.

    Dec 27, 2021

  • Blog

    The Most Popular RAND Research of 2021

    As another extraordinary year draws to a close, we continue to believe that objective, nonpartisan research and analysis has a key role to play in navigating what continues to be a difficult time. Here are the 10 research projects that resonated most with rand.org readers in 2021.

    Dec 22, 2021

  • Blog

    RAND Commentary Highlights of 2021

    Vaccine rollouts, an attack on the U.S. Capitol, massive ransomware attacks, the withdrawal from Afghanistan, record numbers of job openings and people quitting, and more. RAND researchers weighed in on all these topics and more.

    Dec 21, 2021

  • Multimedia

    RAND Video Highlights of 2021

    The best RAND videos from the past year brought our research to life in new ways. From the sidewalks of Pittsburgh to preschools in the Middle East, see how people around the world are using RAND research to make their communities safer and more secure, healthier and more prosperous.

    Dec 20, 2021

  • RAND Weekly Recap

    Blog

    Gender Pay Gap Among Doctors, America's Labor Shortage, 'Hacking Equity': RAND Weekly Recap

    This weekly recap focuses on the pay gap between female and male doctors, understanding America’s weird job market, social and emotional learning, and more.

    Dec 17, 2021

  • Young Black women with a cat attends a meeting on teleconference, photo by vgajic/Getty Images

    Commentary

    Could the Move Toward Collaboration Technologies Change the Very Makeup of Populations?

    Collaborative technologies such as Zoom and Microsoft Teams have transformed how we work, visit the doctor, and go to school. But can they also shift demographic trends in migration, fertility, morbidity, and mortality? And if so, how?

    Dec 17, 2021

  • Older man on the phone looking at a medication bottle, photo by shapecharge/Getty Images

    Commentary

    Rethinking the Impact of Audio-Only Visits on Health Equity

    New pandemic-era flexibility that allowed audio-only health visits to be routinely reimbursed as telehealth may be leading to substandard care for those it was meant to serve. It may be time to consider limiting audio-only visits in the pursuit of health equity.

    Dec 17, 2021

  • A 'now hiring' sign in Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania, November 7, 2021, photo by Paul Weaver/SOPA Images/Sipa U via Reuters Connect

    Commentary

    How to Explain This Weird Job Market

    It's tempting to see in 2021 a harbinger of some permanent shift in our labor market, but that would be premature. What is clear is that we will never recreate the world of December 2019. The labor market in 2022 and beyond will reflect not only what workers learned from their pandemic experience, but also how employers and policymakers choose to respond.

    Dec 14, 2021

  • Photographic data visualization by Gabrielle Mérite representing the prices of brand-name drugs with real money on a blue background. For the same pill, the U.S cost is $10 while Germany and Canada’s cost would be $3.50, Japan's $3.25, the UK's $3.00 and Mexico's $2.75.

    Project

    Comparing International Prescription Drug Prices

    Prescription drug prices in the United States average 2.56 times those in 32 other nations. In a new animation, information designer Gabrielle Mérite illustrates this subject that may seem distant from American consumers but has a concrete impact on their health and finances.

    Dec 14, 2021

  • President Joe Biden signs the American Rescue Plan in the Oval Office, at the White House in Washington, D.C., March, 11, 2021, photo by Doug Mills/Pool/Sipa USA/Reuters

    Commentary

    Temporary Safety-Net Policies Prevented Mass Insurance Loss During the Pandemic

    Although it provided a foundation, the ACA alone could not have absorbed the effects of the pandemic's sudden job losses on health care coverage. Temporary expansions to the safety net enacted by Congress also were necessary to stem coverage loss. As the pandemic continues, policymakers will want to keep safety-net provisions as available policy options.

    Dec 13, 2021

  • Hand holding figures in four different colors to represent different races and ethnicities, photo by Iuliia Anisimova/Getty Images

    Commentary

    The Health of Asian Americans Depends on Not Grouping Communities Under the Catch-All Term

    Health data have historically lumped all Asian American people together, obscuring distinct health disparities and leaving vulnerable communities neglected by researchers and policymakers. What would be needed to construct a fuller representation of Asian American communities and their well-being?

    Dec 13, 2021

  • RAND Weekly Recap

    Blog

    Russia and Ukraine, Climate Migration, Democracy in Asia: RAND Weekly Recap

    This weekly recap focuses on Russia and Ukraine, planning for climate migration, the state of democracy in Asia, and more.

    Dec 10, 2021

  • Young black man has video conference call, photo by alexey chigretskiy/Adobe Stock

    Blog

    Hackathon Introduces Undergraduate Students to Public Policy Research

    For three weeks in October and November, undergraduates from Clark Atlanta University, Morehouse College, and Spelman College teamed up with Pardee RAND doctoral students to explore how vulnerable communities have fared during the pandemic and envision policies that might produce a more equitable recovery.

    Dec 10, 2021

  • Authorities receive a shipment of COVID-19 vaccines donated by the United States through the U.N. Covax program in La Paz, Bolivia, September 26, 2021, photo by Josué Antonio Castañeta/Ulan/Pool/Latin American News Agency via Reuters

    Commentary

    American Attitudes About Vaccine Globalism

    Overall, American support for sharing vaccines with other countries was high even before the Omicron variant. This may reflect recognition of the need to proactively address the pandemic beyond U.S. borders to truly be on the path to recovery.

    Dec 9, 2021

  • Person filling out a Medicaid form on a laptop, photo by Andrii Dodonov/Getty Images

    Commentary

    Twelve-Month Continuous Eligibility for Medicaid Adults Can Stabilize Coverage with a Modest Cost Increase

    Churning—frequent moving in and out of Medicaid due to income fluctuation—increases insurance coverage gaps, disrupts access to health care, increases unnecessary administrative burden, and leads to suboptimal health outcomes. Federal and state policymakers might consider continuous eligibility to help stabilize Medicaid enrollment.

    Dec 8, 2021

  • Marijuana in a jar, photo by MmeEmil/Getty Images

    Commentary

    Green Light for Cannabis Legalisation in Germany Is Not a Clear-Cut Decision

    The new “traffic light” coalition in Germany recently agreed to regulate the sale of cannabis to adults for recreational purposes in licensed shops. International experience has shown that great care is needed in how cannabis policy is shaped.

    Dec 6, 2021

  • Father having a video call with doctor for sick daughter, photo by FatCamera/Getty Images

    News Release

    Greater Adoption of Telemedicine Could Reap Benefits for the Canadian Economy of Nearly 6 Billion CAD Annually

    Increasing the use of telemedicine in Canada through teleconsultations between patients and their primary care provider could lead to benefits for patients, society, and the economy. The economic value of time saved, through fewer hours spent on traveling to appointments and waiting, could be up to 5 billion CAD alone each year.

    Dec 6, 2021

  • RAND Weekly Recap

    Blog

    Addressing Anti-Asian Racism, Stabilizing U.S. Rivalries, the Debt-Ceiling Fight: RAND Weekly Recap

    This weekly recap focuses on countering anti-Asian racism, the instability of U.S. rivalries with Russia and China, the rise in extremist online activity, and more.

    Dec 3, 2021

Research conducted by