Policy Currents | The newsletter for policy people
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** April 10, 2025
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U.S. Emergency Care Is at Risk
Emergency departments in the United States handle 120 million to 140 million visits each year. They are where patients seek care for time-sensitive and acute conditions, and they provide that care regardless of an individual's ability to pay, serving as the safety net of the nation's health system.
But according to a new RAND study, the viability of emergency care as we know it is at risk. That's because emergency departments face serious challenges, including long patient wait times, increasing patient complexity and acuity, and a high amount of uncompensated care.
Declining payments may be particularly concerning. Medicare and Medicaid payments to emergency physicians fell 3.8 percent from 2018 to 2022. Over that same period, reductions in payments for commercially insured patient visits were much steeper, dropping 10.9 percent for commercial in-network visits and 47.7 percent for commercial out-of-network visits.
Urgent action is needed to sustain hospital emergency departments, says lead author Mahshid Abir, a RAND researcher and a practicing emergency physician. "Unless these challenges are addressed," she says, "there is an increasing risk that emergency departments will close, more doctors and nurses will leave emergency medicine, and patients will face even longer waits for care."
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The Potential Impacts of Seabed Mining
Seabed mining--extracting polymetallic nodules, potato-sized concretions from the ocean floor--could provide an alternative source for several critical minerals. In a new report, RAND researchers analyze the potential impacts of establishing a global seabed mining industry. They find that seabed mining could produce amounts of nickel and cobalt--essential for lithium-ion batteries--that are equal to the projected U.S. demand in 2040. But a global seabed mining industry might also come with geopolitical implications, including shifts among relationships among Indo-Pacific countries.
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More School Districts Are Training Teachers on Artificial Intelligence
A new RAND survey reveals that, as of fall 2024, roughly half of America's school districts have provided training to teachers about generative AI-powered tools. This is double the proportion of districts that reported they had done so the previous fall. Further, another 26 percent of districts reported plans to provide such training for the first time during the 2024–2025 school year. Finally, the survey results show that low-poverty districts are outpacing high-poverty districts when it comes to training.
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** RAND Recommends
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- A new RAND study finds that California's county mental health systems require a substantial investment to meet the state's critical need for evidence-based outpatient mental health services among adults.
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- According to RAND's Derek Grossman, Taiwan is "jittery" about its relationship with the United States. Washington could assuage Taipei's concerns with continued arms sales and security cooperation.
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- Wargaming is far more than a tool for military strategy, say RAND Europe's Katja Fedina and Rebecca Lucas. "It's a dynamic, hands-on approach to tackling complex challenges in nearly any sector."
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** Events
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Innovations in Veteran Suicide Prevention
Thursday, April 17, 2025 (Online)
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Policy Lab: Mapping the Use of High-Quality Instructional Materials
Wednesday, April 30, 2025 (Online)
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