The U.S. health insurance model frequently costs more and
provides less care than systems in other Western nations. RAND's
health insurance research began in 1971 with the 15-year Health
Insurance Experiment, the only community-based experimental
study of how cost-sharing arrangements affect people’s use of
health services, their quality of care, and their health status.
Subsequent research has continued to inform the U.S. policy
debate. The rising cost of Medicare can be cut through
strategies such as increasing premiums and raising the
eligibility age, but those moves could drive many elderly
Americans from the program, leaving them with limited access to
health services. While a governor or legislator may disagree
with Medicaid expansion for philosophical reasons, the claims
that the expansion will be a burden on states' economies seem
misguided given the full range of projected economic impacts on
the states, writes Carter C. Price. With the complex process of
implementing the ACA underway, RAND research