Rand Health Insurance Experiment

The Rand Health Insurance Experiment was a large study conducted in the 1970s and early 1980s to understand how health insurance plans affect healthcare usage and costs. Researchers assigned thousands of people to different insurance plans, some with minimal costs and others with higher out-of-pocket expenses. They found that people with low-cost plans used more healthcare services, but overall health outcomes were similar across groups. The study showed that cost-sharing influences how often people seek care but doesn’t necessarily affect their health, highlighting the balance between access to care and controlling healthcare expenses.