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Exhibit 178

Health insurance and the demand for medical care: evidence from a randomized experiment

Exhibit 178 ยท Peer-reviewed trial report

Health insurance and the demand for medical care: evidence from a randomized experiment

The per capita expenses on the plan with no out-of-pocket costs are 45 percent higher than those on the plan with a 95 percent coinsurance rate, subject to an upper limit on out-of-pocket expenses of $1,000 per year.

The principal analysis of spending in the RAND Health Insurance Experiment. Per-capita expenses on the free plan were about 45 percent higher than on the 95 percent coinsurance plan, which capped out-of-pocket spending at $1,000.

Source
Manning et al., American Economic Review
Date
1987
Quoted from
Abstract of RAND report R-3476 (Manning, Newhouse, Duan et al.), as reproduced on the Harvard Health Care Policy page
Grade
Peer-reviewed
Document
https://hcp.hms.harvard.edu/publication/health-insurance-and-demand-medical-care-results-randomized-experiment
Accessed
2026-11-09
Cited by
Findings citing this exhibit
Note
Known through a Harvard listing and a mirrored PDF.

Cited by

Finding MED-9.6
Peer-reviewed In two randomized experiments, more generous insurance increased the use of care without measurably improving average physical health.