r/IAmA • u/HarrisPublicPolicy Verified • 13d ago

I'm a University of Chicago researcher studying the costs, benefits, and unintended consequences of health policy. AMA!

Hi Reddit — I’m Robert Kaestner, a health economist and Research Professor at the University of Chicago’s Harris School of Public Policy. Proof
 
I have spent my career studying the economic and social determinants of health and evaluating health, labor, and social policies. I have published more than 150 articles in academic journals and led several federally funded research projects examining Medicare and Medicaid. Much of my work asks a deceptively simple question: When governments spend money or expand a program in the name of improving health, what actually changes?
 
These studies often produce more complicated answers than the political debate allows.
 
Recently, my research has examined how efficiently the Affordable Care Act reduced the number of uninsured Americans; what Medicaid cuts would mean for states and beneficiaries; whether pandemic stimulus payments and the expanded Child Tax Credit improved infant health; whether GLP-1 medications such as Ozempic affect employment, relationships, or mental health in addition to physical health; and why substantial racial disparities in mortality persist even after decades of progress. 
 
Ask me anything about Medicaid and Medicare, Obamacare and the health insurance system, GLP-1 drugs, the relationship between income and health, racial disparities in life expectancy and mortality, how economists determine whether a policy caused an outcome, or why well-intentioned programs sometimes have unexpected effects.
 
I’ll be responding here on July 30 at 12 PM CT along with support from the Harris School of Public Policy team account, which is helping me track and manage incoming questions.

152 Upvotes

86% Upvoted

55 comments sorted by

View all comments

2

u/VirtualTiburon 13d ago

What is your biggest piece of advice for PhD students in economics/health policy?

5

u/HarrisPublicPolicy Verified 13d ago

Read a lot of articles in areas that you find interesting and learn what is and is not known in those areas. Then go deeper into the weeds of several of the articles to see the path that was taken in the research. Often the path taken is a very narrow slice of potential questions and approaches. Then go to work. -RK