Health Economist Wins Top Prize for Medicaid/Medicare Findings

MIT economist Amy Finkelstein PhD '01, a leader in studying health insurance markets, has won the top economics prize for people under 40—the prestigious John Bates Clark Medal awarded by the American Economic Association.

Finkelstein's work has examined the effects of Medicare and Medicaid, national health care programs for older people and low-income people, respectively, both launched in the 1960s.

• Her major work includes a 2007 paper that determined that Medicare helps the elderly financially, but also increases spending on health care, sometimes through the adoption of new technologies.
• A 2011 paper found that enrolling in Medicaid helps both the health and financial stability of participants and makes them more likely to receive medical care. A MIT News article reported: "Citizens with Medicaid are 30 percent more likely to have a hospital stay, 35 percent more likely to have an outpatient visit to a doctor, and 15 percent more likely to take prescription drugs, compared to similar low-income citizens not enrolled in the program."

She is co-director of the Public Economics Program at the National Bureau of Economic Research and a co-editor of the Journal of Public Economics. You can read her papers including the landmark Oregon study that documented the Medicaid findings and a new paper on "Selection on Moral Hazard in Health Insurance."

MIT faculty, alumni and former faculty have won the last nine Clark medals in a row (the award became annual in 2010): Jonathan Levin PhD ’99 (2011); Esther Duflo YR (2010); Emmanuel Saez PhD ’99 (2009); former MIT professor Susan Athey (2007); Daron Acemoglu (2005).; Steven Levitt PhD ’94 (2003); Matthew Rabin PhD ’89 (2001); and Andrei Shleifer PhD ’86 (1999). Nine other MIT alumni or faculty won earlier awards.