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Staff Profiles
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Melinda Beeuwkes BuntinWashington Office Director, Public-Sector Initiatives, RAND Health; EducationPh.D. in health policy, Harvard University; A.B., Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, Princeton University |
Biography
Melinda Beeuwkes Buntin is a health economist at RAND specializing in the economics of the Medicare program. Her interests also include the individual health insurance market, benefit design and "consumer-directed" health care, and the financing of care for the chronically and seriously ill.
Research Focus
Health economics; health care financing and insurance; medicare; consumer-driven health plans
RAND Research Areas
Recent Projects
- Market for individual health insurance
- Consumer-directed care
- Post-acute care
- Risk selection and risk adjustment
- Financing of care for the disabled and chronically and/or terminally ill
Selected Publications
M. B. Buntin et al., "Consumer-Directed Health Care: Early Evidence About Effects on Cost and Quality", Health Affairs [Web exclusive], 2006
M. B. Buntin et al., "How Much Is Postacute Care Use Affected by Its Availability?", Health Services Research, 40(2), 2005
, "Increased Medicare Expenditures for Physicians' Services: What Are the Causes?", Inquiry, 41(1), 2004
M. B. Buntin et al., "The Role of the Individual Health Insurance Market and Prospects for Change", Health Affairs, 23(6), 2004
M. B. Buntin and A. M. Zaslavsky, "Too Much Ado About Two-Part Models and Transformation? Comparing Methods of Modeling Medicare Expenditures", Journal of Health Economics, 23(3), 2004
Research Focus
Health economics; Health care financing; Medicare; health insurance; health care payment systems and risk adjustment
RAND Research Areas
Recent Projects
- Costs, use, and outcomes of post-acute care
- The role that the market for individual health insurance policies plays in covering the non-poor population
- Determinants of increases Medicare expenditures for physicians services
- The financing of end-of-life care
- The effects of 'consumer-directed' health care on care cost, utilization, and quality.
Selected Publications
Neeraj Sood, Melinda Beeuwkes Buntin, José J. Escarce, "Does How Much and How You Pay Matter? Evidence from the Inpatient Rehabilitation Facility Prospective Payment System", Journal of Health Economics, 27(4) 1046-1059, 2008
Melinda Beeuwkes Buntin, "Access to Post-Acute Rehabilitation", Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, 88(11), 2007
M. Susan Marquis, Melinda Beeuwkes Buntin, José J. Escarce, "The Role of Product Design in Consumers' Choices in the Individual Insurance Market", Health Services Research, 42(6) 2194-2223, 2007
Melinda Beeuwkes Buntin, Cheryl Damberg, Amelia Haviland, Kanika Kapur, Nicole Lurie, Roland D. McDevitt, M. Susan Marquis, "Consumer-Directed Health Care: Early Evidence About Effects on Cost and Quality", Health Affairs [Web Exclusive], 24, 2006
Biography
Buntin is a health economist at RAND specializing in the economics of the Medicare program. Her interests also include the individual health insurance market, benefit design and "consumer-directed" health care, and the financing of care for the chronically and seriously ill. From 2006 to 2007, she was codirector of the Bing Center for Health Economics at RAND, established to identify and support innovative, cutting-edge research in health economics and health services that might otherwise not receive funding from more established sources. As a senior economist, she has been responsible for managing large-scale multidisciplinary projects for a range of federal government, foundation, and private-sector sponsors. This work includes projects and publications in the areas of consumer-directed health care, disease management, the market for individual health insurance policies, post-acute care, Medicare provider payment, the financing of end-of-life care, and Medicare managed care plan design and payment.Research Focus
Health economics, health care financing and insurance, medicare, consumer-driven health plans
Selected Publications
"Effects of Payment Changes on Trends in Post-Acute Care," M. B. Buntin et al., Health Services Research, [Epub Apr 5, 2009]
"Who Gets Disease Management?" M. B. Buntin et al., Journal of General Internal Medicine, [Epub Mar 24, 2009], Vol. 24, No. 5, May 2009
"Does How Much and How You Pay Matter? Evidence from the Inpatient Rehabilitation Care Prospective Payment System," Neeraj Sood et al., Journal of Health Economics, [Epub Mar 10, 2008], Vol. 27, No. 4, July 2008
"Consumer-Directed Health Care: Early Evidence About Effects on Cost and Quality," M. B. Buntin et al., Health Affairs [Web exclusive], Oct 2006
"How Much Is Postacute Care Use Affected by Its Availability?" M. B. Buntin et al., Health Services Research, Vol. 40, No. 2, Apr 2005
Recent Media Appearances
Interviews: Knight Ridder; New York Times; Philadelphia Inquirer; Washington Post
Commentary: New England Journal of Medicine
To arrange an interview:
Contact the RAND Office of Media Relations, (703) 413-1100, x5117 or (310) 451-6913, or send an email to media@rand.org.
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