Area of Emphasis: Health Economics

Advisors: Peter Huckfeldt PhD, Ezra Golberstein PhD

Bio

I am a PhD candidate in Health Services Research Policy and Administration, expected to gradate in Spring 2022. My dissertation evaluates how health care use and continuity of care are affected when Medicaid enrollees change managed care organizations. I am interested in applying quasi-experimental research methods like differences-in-differences, regression discontinuity, and instrumental variables analysis to better understand how Medicaid Managed Care affects access to care and health outcomes for vulnerable populations. I have five years of experience collaborating with the Minnesota Department of Health to conduct a variety of research using the Minnesota All Payer Claims Database and have more than a decade of experience working with administrative health care data. I am looking for positions that would allow me to continue to study Medicaid Managed Care in a setting that informs policy.

Research Interests

Medicaid Managed Care, Insurer Competition, Health Care Pricing and Price Variation, Quasi-Experimental Methods, Health Care Quality

Published Research

Sarah Gollust, Chris Frenier, Margaret Tait, Laura L. Baum, Alene Kennedy-Hendricks, Jeff Niederdeppe, Erika Franklin Fowler (2021). When talk is not cheap: What factors predict political campaign messaging on social determinants of health issues? World Medical and Health Policy [Link]

Chris Frenier, Ezra Golberstein, Sayeh Sander Nikpay (2020). COVID-19 Has Increased Medicaid Enrollment in Many States, but Short-Term Enrollment Changes Unrelated to Job Losses. Health Affairs [Link]

Peter J. Huckfeldt, Chris Frenier, Nicholas M. Pajewski, Mark Espeland, Anne Peters, Ramon Casanova, Xavier Pi-Sunyer, Lawrence Cheskin, Dana P. Goldman (2020). Associations of Intensive Lifestyle Intervention in Type 2 Diabetes With Health Care Use, Spending, and Disability: An Ancillary Study of the Look AHEAD Study. JAMA Network Open [Link]

Working Papers

Anthony Damiano; Chris Frenier (2020). Build Baby Build?: Housing Submarkets and the Effects of New Construction on Existing Rents. Center for Urban and Regional Affairs Working Paper Series [Link]

Contact:

LinkedIn Site

freni003@umn.edu