State Cost Growth Benchmark Programs and Total Medical Expenditures, 2010 to 2020
To evaluate whether adoption of statewide cost-growth benchmark programs is associated with changes in per capita total medical expenditure (TME) growth.
CD
Cheryl Damberg directs the RAND Center of Excellence on Health System Performance and is the distinguished chair in Health Care Payment Policy and a principal senior economist at RAND. She is an international expert in value-based payment reforms and has advised Congress, federal agencies, as well as the governments of the UK, Germany, and South Korea, on alternative payment models and the effects of health care consolidation. Her research focuses on examining health system performance; changes in health care markets, vertical consolidation and its impacts; health care delivery and payment reforms; telehealth, quality of care, and health disparities. She is an expert in Medicare payment policy and currently directs a team that computes the annual Medicare Advantage and Part D Star Ratings. Damberg currently serves as a MedPAC Commissioner, which advises Congress on Medicare payment policy. She is a member of the California Healthcare Payment Database Advisory Committee that is guiding the development of California’s all-payer claims database (APCD) and also serves on the California Department of Managed Care’s Quality and Health Equity Committee.
Damberg received her Ph.D. in public policy and economics from the RAND School of Public Policy.
Education
Ph.D. in public policy and economics, RAND School of Public Policy; M.P.H. in health behavior and education, population planning, University of Michigan School of Public Health; B.S. in zoology, natural science, Michigan State University
Selected Work
- Whaley CM, Zhao, X, Richards MR, Damberg CL, "Higher Medicare spending on imaging and lab services after physician practice vertical integration. ," Health Aff., 2021
- Gidwani R, Damberg CL., " The Unaffordability of Affordable Care Act Health Insurance Plans. ," Medical Care, 2026 (forthcoming)
- 2.McBain RK, Cantor J, Kerber R, Damberg CL, Whaley C, " Trends in Telehealth and In-Person mental Health Service Utilization and Spending among Medicare Beneficiaries, 2019-2023," JAMA Network Open, 2026
- Gidwani R, Damberg CL., "Changes in US Hospital Financial Performance During the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency. ," JAMA Health Forum, (4(7):e2319), 2023
- Mafi, JN, Reid RO, Baseman LH, Hickey S, Totten M, Agniel D, Fendrick AM, Sarkisian, C, Damberg CL, "Trends in low-value health service utilization and spending in the U.S. Medicare Fee-For-Service Program, 2014-2018.," JAMA Network Open. , 2021
- Damberg, CL., M Silverman, L Burgette, ME Vaiana, MS Ridgely., "Are value-based incentives driving behavior change to improve value?" American Journal of Managed Care , 2019
- Arbanas JC, Damberg CL (co-first authors), Leng M, et al., "Estimated Annual Spending on Lecanemab and Its Ancillary Costs in the US Medicare Program. JAMA Intern Med. Published online May 11, 2023.," JAMA Internal Medicine, (Published ), 2023
- Sherry TB, Damberg CL, DeYoreo M, Bogart A, Agniel D, Ridgely S, Escarce JJ, "Is bigger better? A closer look at small health systems in the United States. ,", (Med Care. ), 2022
Authored by Cheryl L. Damberg
167 Results
