Switching to a consumer-directed health plan is associated with reduced overall outpatient spending, but not with reduced spending on low-value healthcare services.
This study uses insurance claims data and changes in plan offerings within firms over time to estimate treatment effects of high-deductible plans on spending on 24 low-value services received in the outpatient setting.
From closed courts to increased risk for first responders, the COVID-19 pandemic has introduced new challenges for the justice system. RAND research provides insights that may be helpful as decisionmakers try and address some of these issues.
Legislation has been introduced in several states that would require insurers to cover business interruption losses due to the COVID-19 outbreak. What are the advantages and disadvantages of such a law? If policymakers were to proceed with such an approach, then what design considerations should they keep in mind?
The process of determining appropriate workers' compensation benefits can be costly and complicated. Changes in permanent disability benefits in Oregon provide a case study on the relationship between the expected value of the benefit and the probability of settlement.
Wildfires in California have caused and will likely continue to cause substantial losses for residents, businesses, and government agencies. It is important to distribute these losses in a manner that provides incentives to reduce their magnitude over time.
This paper examines the different types of health care liens and trends in prevalence, as well as how liens have changed the landscape of claim resolution.
The Affordable Care Act's expansion of coverage for people under age 26 led to a 1-percent reduction in uninsurance, equating to a 0.8-percent decrease in workers' compensation claim frequency, and a roughly 1-percent decrease in overall claim costs.
This report supports the California Division of Workers' Compensation's efforts to establish a drug formulary by comparing existing workers' compensation formularies and analyzing options for designing and implementing the formulary.
The cyber insurance industry can play a critical role in informing corporations about effective security controls, monitoring the use of those controls, and therefore help reduce the probability and magnitude of breaches. But it may be squandering this opportunity.
Though consistency in applying disability assessment criteria is intended, it is not easily achieved in practice. For many SSDI applicants, whether they are allowed or denied benefits depends upon the examiner to which their application is assigned.
The RAND Corporation, Risk Management Solutions, Inc. (RMS) and private investors have launched a company named Praedicat, Inc., that will provide consulting services and software to the property and casualty insurance industries.
Effective January 1, 2012, Medicare will require insurers and self-insured companies to report settlements, awards, and judgments over $5K that involve a Medicare beneficiary. Over three years the $5K threshold will be phased out and all claims will have to be reported—but the potential revenue recovered from low-value claims may not be worth the reporting costs.
In July 2009, the UCLA-RAND Center for Law and Public Policy convened a conference to assess the regulatory implications, effect on dispute resolution, and trends in the development of third-party litigation funding.
Higher auto insurance rates in Michigan lead to a high proportion of drivers without auto insurance. Introducing options or fee schedules for personal injury protection coverage could help lead to broader, more-affordable choices.
Statistician
Education Ph.D. in biostatistics, Harvard University; A.M. in biostatistics, Harvard University; M.S. in statistics, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign; B.S. in statistics, Loyola University Chicago; B.A. in philosophy, Loyola University Chicago
Associate Policy Researcher
Education Ph.D. in health policy and management, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health; B.A. in biology, Cornell University
