Studies

NCPA studies generally break new ground on policy issues. A study seeks to cast new light on an issue and to stimulate policy-makers and others to think of new, innovative solutions to the problems associated with the issue. Studies may combine several elements of analysis, including original research, reviews of academic literature, creative approaches for solving public policy problems, and economic modeling.

Reforming Social Security: Lessons from Thirty Countries

Social Security reform in the United States has become a nationally debated topic, but privately managed, funded plans are already a component of the social security systems of more than 30 nations ar…
Consumer-Driven Health Care: The Changing Role of the Patient

The latest trend in health care? Patients are managing their own care. New technologies make it possible. Legislative changes facilitate it. And financial pressures all but require it.
Unemployment Insurance in a Free Society

Unemployment insurance was intended to provide a financial safety net for laid-off workers. But the way the system is structured encourages employers to lay off employees and discourages workers from…
Aging, the World Economy and the Coming Generational Storm

The United States is about to experience the greatest demographic change in its history. Most of this change will occur over the next 30 years, as 77 million baby boomers cease to work and pay payroll…
Social Security Reform without Illusion: The Five Percent Solution

America’s entitlement programs for senior citizens are on an unsustainable course. Unless changes are made soon, we face the prospect of exorbitant tax rates or severe benefit cuts.
Private Pension Annuities in Chile

Chile adopted a new pension system featuring privately managed individual accounts in 1981. The system gives us an opportunity, based on more than 20 years of experience, to examine how pensioners and…
Shopping for Drugs: 2004

Seniors, the uninsured and others who pay for prescriptions out of pocket are looking for ways to cope with rising drug costs. While many seniors can lower their drug bills by using the new Medicare d…
The Case against John Kerry's Health Plan

Senator John Kerry has proposed a plan to radically reform the U.S. health care system. If he is successful, millions of middle-income families will be enrolled in Medicaid, the federal-state health p…