AN EMPIRICAL ANALYSIS OF THE IMPACT OF HEALTH POLICIES ON OUT-OF-POCKET HEALTHCARE EXPENDITURE IN USA: THE PRELIMINARY RESEARCH ON DEVELOPING IMPROVED HEALTH POLICIES IN THE UNITED STATES

This study examines the impact of U.S. health policies on out-of-pocket healthcare expenditures, revealing that certain policies are notably more effective in reducing costs for individuals. The regression model explains 99.5% of the variation in out-of-pocket expenses (R² = 0.995). Key findings show the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) as the most impactful, reducing costs by $0.43 per unit (β = -0.426, p = 0.007), followed by COVID-19 Response and Health Policy Changes (CRHPC), which reduces costs by $0.16 (β = -0.162, p = 0.019). Government Expenditure on Health, however, has a positive impact, increasing out-of-pocket spending by $0.69 per dollar spent (β = 0.695, p = 0.001), suggesting inefficiencies. Inflation also drives costs up, with each 1% increase resulting in an additional $0.02 out-of-pocket (β = 0.017, p = 0.032). The findings recommend focusing on high-impact policies like the IRA and CRHPC, while reevaluating lower-impact programs to optimize resource allocation and control healthcare inflation.

本研究考察了美国卫生政策对个人自付医疗费用的影响，结果表明部分政策在降低民众医疗成本方面成效尤为突出。本次研究所采用的回归模型可解释99.5%的自付医疗费用变异（R² = 0.995）。核心研究结果显示：《通胀削减法案》（Inflation Reduction Act, IRA）的影响最为显著，可使单位医疗成本降低0.43美元（β = -0.426，p = 0.007）；紧随其后的是新冠疫情应对与卫生政策变革（COVID-19 Response and Health Policy Changes, CRHPC），可使医疗成本降低0.16美元（β = -0.162，p = 0.019）。但政府卫生支出却呈现正向影响，每投入1美元的政府卫生支出，会使个人自付医疗费用增加0.69美元（β = 0.695，p = 0.001），这暗示了该政策存在执行低效性。通胀同样会推高医疗成本，通胀率每提升1%，个人自付费用将增加0.02美元（β = 0.017，p = 0.032）。基于上述研究结果，本研究建议优先关注《通胀削减法案》、新冠疫情应对与卫生政策变革等高影响力政策，同时重新评估低影响力项目，以优化资源配置并管控医疗通胀。