Exhibit 177 ยท Research brief
The Health Insurance Experiment: a classic RAND study speaks to the current health care reform debate
participants (including both adults and children) with cost sharing made one to two fewer physician visits annually and had 20 percent fewer hospitalizations than those with free care
RAND's summary of its Health Insurance Experiment, which ran between 1971 and 1982 and randomly assigned families to plans from free care to 95 percent coinsurance. Families with 25 percent coinsurance spent about 20 percent less than families with free care, and those with 95 percent coinsurance about 30 percent less. Cost sharing reduced physician visits by one to two a year and hospitalizations by 20 percent, and had no adverse effect on health for the average participant. For people with poor vision and for low-income people with high blood pressure, free care brought an improvement.
- Source
- RAND Corporation (Research Brief RB-9174)
- Date
- 2006
- Quoted from
- RAND Research Brief RB-9174, "Effects on Use of Health Services"; the 25 percent and 95 percent coinsurance spending figures (20 and about 30 percent less) are in the next paragraph
- Grade
- Primary record
- Document
- https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_briefs/RB9174.html
- Accessed
- 2026-11-09
- Cited by
- Findings citing this exhibit