Working Papers:
Inducing Participation and Performance Using Financial Incentives: Evidence From Medicare [NBER paper] (Version: October 2024)
with Joe Martinez and Amol Navathe
R&R Journal of Public Economics
Turbocharging Profits? Contract Gaming and Revenue Allocation in Healthcare [NBER paper] [Latest version] (Updated: June 2025)
with Adam Sacarny and Ambar La Forgia
Revised & Resubmitted to AEJ: Applied Economics
Media coverage: Wharton Business Daily (July 2024) LDI Policy blog (August 2024)
The Impact of Privatization: Evidence from the Hospital Sector [NBER paper] [Latest version] (Updated: Dec 2024)
with Mark Duggan, Emilie Jackson, and Zachary Templeton
R&R The American Economic Review
Media coverage: Vox (January 2023), Stanford SIEPR policy brief (January 2023), LDI Policy blog (March 2023)
Published and Accepted papers:
1. The Corporatization of Independent Hospitals [Journal link][NBER paper]
with Elena Andreyeva, Catherine Ishitani, Gosia Sylwestrzak, and Ben Ukert
Journal of Political Economy Microeconomics, August 2024. 2(3): 602-663
Winner, 31st NIHCM Research award, 2025
Media coverage: Elevance Public Policy Institute Brief (August 2023), Fierce Healthcare (August 2023), Modern Healthcare (August 2023) NBER Digest (December 2023) LDI Policy brief (September 2024) Knowledge@Wharton (November 2024) Wharton magazine (Spring/Summer 2025) Summary in NIHCM research insight (June 2025)
2. Owner Incentives and Performance in Healthcare: Evidence from Private Equity [Journal link][NBER paper]
with Sabrina Howell, Constantine Yannelis, and Abhinav Gupta
The Review of Financial Studies, April 2024. 37(4): 1029-1077. Editor's choice and Lead article.
Best Paper in Health and Finance, the Midwest Finance Association, 2021
Finalist, 30th NIHCM Research award, 2024
Cited by:
Sabrina's testimony before the House Ways and Means Oversight sub-committee (March 2021)
MedPAC report to Congress, chapter on PE (May 2021)
White House State of the Union 2022 (February 2022)
CMS final rule on nursing home ownership disclosure (November 2023)
Select coverage: Financial Times (May 2020), New York Times (May 2020), Time (May 2020), The Washington Post (December 2020), Vox (February 2021), Wharton Business Daily podcast (March 2021), NPR: All things considered (March 2021), NBER Digest (April 2021), Tradeoffs (August 2021), The New Yorker (August 2022), Yahoo (February 2023), Tradeoffs podcast (May 2024) Knowledge@Wharton (July 2024) The New Yorker (December 2024)
3. Is Employment Group Insurance Financing of Expensive Gene Therapies Threatened in the United States? [Journal link]
with Jalpa Doshi, Morgan Eilers, Mark Pauly, and Alexander Olssen
Health Affairs Scholar, Volume 1, Issue 4, October 2023. Editor's choice.
Media coverage: LDI Blog (October 2023)
4. Growth of Medicare Advantage After Plan Payment Reductions [Journal link]
with Aaron Schwartz, Seyoun Kim, and Amol Navathe
JAMA Health Forum, 4(6), June 2023.
5. The Effect of Performance Pay Incentives on Market Frictions: Evidence from Medicare [Journal link] [NBER paper]
with Guy David and Lucy Kim
International Journal of Health Economics and Management, 23 (1): 27–57, March 2023.
6. Elevated End of Life Spending: A New Measure of Potentially Wasteful Healthcare Spending at End of Life [Journal link]
with Yongkang Zhang, Sean Nicholson, and Jing Li
Health Services Research, 58(1): 186-194, February 2023.
7. The Impact of the Affordable Care Act: Evidence from California's Hospital Sector [Journal link] [NBER paper]
with Mark Duggan and Emilie Jackson
American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, 14 (1): 111-151, February 2022.
Media coverage: LA Times (January 2019), National Review (January 2019)
8. Impacts of Performance Pay for Hospitals: The Readmissions Reduction Program [Journal link] [Author copy]
The American Economic Review, 111(4): 1241-1283, April 2021.
Finalist, 28th NIHCM Research award, 2022
Media coverage: LDI Blog (January 2019) , NEJM Catalyst (January 2019)
9. Spending And Quality After Three Years Of Medicare’s Voluntary Bundled Payment For Joint Replacement Surgery [Journal link]
with Amol Navathe, Ezekiel J. Emanuel, Atheendar S. Venkataramani, Qian Huang, Claire T. Dinh, Eric Z. Shan, Dylan Small, Norma B. Coe, Erkuan Wang, Xinshuo Ma, Jingsan Zhu, Deborah S. Cousins, and Joshua M. Liao
Health Affairs, 39 (1): 58–66, January 2020.
10. An Insurer’s Program To Incentivize Generic Oncology Drugs Did Not Alter Treatment Patterns Or Spending On Care [Journal link]
with Laura Yasaitis, Craig Newcomb, Era Kim, Lee Newcomer, and Justin Bekelman
Health Affairs, 38 (5) 812-819, May 2019.
Media coverage: Fierce Healthcare (May 2019)
11. Is American Pet Health Care (Also) Uniquely Inefficient? [Journal link] [Author copy]
with Liran Einav and Amy Finkelstein
American Economic Review: Papers & Proceedings, 107 (5): 491-495, May 2017.
Select coverage: Slate (September 2016), The Atlantic (October 2016), The New York Times (January 2017), Harvard Business Review (January 2017) , The Economist (January 2017) Marginal Revolution (July 2025)
Policy advisory, other articles, and media:
Lancet's commission to reimagine India's health system:
The Lancet has organized a commission to study India's health care system and offer recommendations to "reimagine" it so India can achieve universal health coverage and access. I am a commissioner on the Finance workstream.
Presentation on Finance team preliminary findings at the Mittal Institute for South Asia, Harvard, May 2023
Lancet article on India's response to COVID, June 2021
The final report is currently being revised for publication in the Lancet
Other articles and presentations:
Journal of Clinical Oncology article with Elevance collaborators on physician response to prescribing incentives (October 2020)
JAMA research letter on voluntary and mandatory bundled payment programs (June 2021)
Expert panel on private equity in healthcare - hosted by Penn LDI (March 2023)
Health Affairs article with Elevance collaborators on the limitations of the price data required to be made public by insurers (May 2023)
Webinar on Private Equity in healthcare - hosted by the National Institute for Health Care Management (June 2023) [my slides]
Presentation on Private Equity in healthcare to the Maryland Health Care Commission (August 2023)
Media:
Effects of hospital mergers -- Montana Public Radio (March 2023)
Private equity ownership of hospitals -- Bloomberg (April 2023)
Private equity owned anesthesia practices sued by the FTC -- Dallas Fort Worth Star Telegram (October 2023)
Private equity regulation in Pennsylvania - WHYY (Philly NPR) (February 2025)
Interview on the impact of private equity in healthcare and potential regulations - Wharton Biz podcast (March 2025)