New Clinical Trials and Studies Findings from RAND Corporation Described (Benefit design and consumer information: results from a randomized trial): Clinical Research – Clinical Trials and Studies

2026 MAY 11 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Daily News -- Data detailed on Clinical Research - Clinical Trials and Studies have been presented. According to news reporting originating in Arlington, Virginia, by NewsRx journalists, research stated, “To test whether consumer inertia in choosing primary care clinics (PCCs) in a tiered total cost of care system can be reduced by supplying tailored information on clinic cost directly to consumers during open enrollment. Randomized controlled trial among individuals with employment-based health insurance.”

The news reporters obtained a quote from the research from RAND Corporation, “Members were randomly assigned by their zip code of residence, with 100 zip codes assigned to the treatment group and 100 to the control group. During the open enrollment period for calendar year 2020, members in the treatment group received emails providing enhanced tier information on the most popular PCCs in their zip code. We ran regression analyses to evaluate the marginal effect of the targeted intervention on consumer choice. The intervention had only a small marginal effect on choice of PCC. Before the intervention, nearly 85% of consumers were selecting PCCs in the 2 tiers with the lowest cost sharing, suggesting that tiering alone may already have addressed the problems of poor information and distorted prices inherent in many health insurance designs.”

According to the news reporters, the research concluded: “Providing members with enhanced tier information on local PCCs had a limited marginal effect on consumer choice, suggesting that informational interventions alone are insufficient to overcome existing inertia or, potentially, that consumers were already adequately informed through the tiered total cost of care benefit design.”

This research has been peer-reviewed.

For more information on this research see: Benefit design and consumer information: results from a randomized trial. The American Journal of Managed Care, 2026;32(4):219-225. The American Journal of Managed Care can be contacted at: Managed Care & Healthcare Communications Llc, 666 Plainsboro Rd, Ste 300, Plainsboro, NJ 08536, USA.

Our news correspondents report that additional information may be obtained by contacting Tim McDonald, RAND Corporation, 1200 S Hayes St, Arlington, VA 22202. Additional authors for this research include Katie White, Tsan-Yao Huang, Tyler Boese and Bryan E. Dowd.

The publisher of the The American Journal of Managed Care can be contacted at: Managed Care & Healthcare Communications Llc, 666 Plainsboro Rd, Ste 300, Plainsboro, NJ 08536, USA.

(Our reports deliver fact-based news of research and discoveries from around the world.)