low cost medical insurance

The RAND Health Insurance Experiment (RAND HIE) was a comprehensive study of health care cost, utilization and outcome in the United States. It is the only randomized study of health insurance, and the only study which can give definitive evidence as to the causal effects of different health insurance plans. Most health economics studies are observational, and can only give associational evidence. Meet Congresswoman Lucille Roybal-Allard. Although the fieldwork of the study was conducted between 1974 and 1982, the results are still highly relevant, since RAND HIE is the only study which can make causal statements.

In 1971, a RAND group, led by health economist Joe Newhouse and including statistician Carl Morris, set out to answer the question (among others): "Does free medical care lead to better health than insurance plans that require the paitient to shoulder part of the cost?". The team established an insurance company using funding from the then-United States Department of Health, Education, and Welfare. The company insured 5809 people, randomly assigned to insurance plans that either had no cost-sharing, 25, 50 or 95% copayment rates with a maximum annual payment of $1000.

The study found higher copayment rates reduced spending because people did not seek care as frequently; the care which was not consumed by the higher cost-sharing group was equally necessary and unnecessary care. Offers a variety of short term travel medical insurance plans for the world traveler.