iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Reposted by Zarek Brot

Matt Notowidigdo @profnoto.bsky.social · 19/02/2026

The Spring 2026 Economics of Health NBER Program Meeting starts today, and it can be streamed on YouTube at the link below

nber.org

Economics of Health Program Meeting, Spring 2026

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Reposted by Zarek Brot

Ned Resnikoff @resnikoff.bsky.social · 12/01/2026

The case against Graeberism and for Mamdanism dissentmagazine.org/article/the-...

Instead of retreating into facile cynicism about the safety net and regulatory state, people on the left should be trying to occupy the bureaucracy at the state, local, and, after the MAGA putschists are finally expelled from power, federal level—not simply because we need good people in those jobs, but because enough good people in any given department can change its internal culture for the better. A lot depends, for example, on whether state and local transportation departments are staffed by car-brained traffic engineers or planners who are genuinely invested in walkability and developing viable mass transit networks. Just as much hinges on whether state health agencies are staffed by people with a genuine commitment to the cause of universal healthcare, even in the face of brutal federal Medicaid cuts.

There’s another reason for occupying the bureaucracy, too. For a movement that wants to transform the state, there is tremendous value in understanding how policy implementation and institutional change happens on a granular level. If you spend some time working inside the bureaucracy and you keep your eyes open, you can learn a lot about the points of leverage that leftist politicians and outside advocacy groups can press to their advantage. On the flipside, you can also learn a great deal about the tradeoffs associated with certain approaches and how well-intentioned but undercooked policy initiatives can produce unintended consequences. These are all important lessons for anyone trying to push any level of government in a more humane direction. But they’re especially important lessons for leftist officials who have ambitious agendas, a finite amount of time in which to implement them, and little room for error.

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Zarek Brot @zarekcb.bsky.social · 06/01/2026

Did you really want to wait until 2030?

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Zarek Brot @zarekcb.bsky.social · 12/12/2025

The primary loser from risk adjustment shenanigans is the federal budget, not enrollees.

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Zarek Brot @zarekcb.bsky.social · 12/12/2025

Medicare in 2025 involves half of beneficiaries on private MA plans for their primary medical coverage (and 100% for their drug coverage). The typical “M4A” proposal isn’t just an eligibility expansion, it’s also a massive generosity expansion and usually implicit removal of private plans.

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Zarek Brot @zarekcb.bsky.social · 12/12/2025

I don’t think they (or you) want 75% of the population on Medicaid Managed Care plans either!

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Zarek Brot @zarekcb.bsky.social · 12/12/2025

I do not think that most M4A proponents would like to expand the current Medicare program to all; I don’t think they would prefer to have half the population (likely more) on Medicare Advantage.

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Zarek Brot @zarekcb.bsky.social · 27/11/2025

I wonder if your utilization gap estimates are too low. You calibrate from within-payernprice changes. If across payer price differences matter then the the margin of not accepting the payer does too. As @gottliebecon.bsky.social et al show (in their denials paper) that margin is elastic to payment!

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Zarek Brot @zarekcb.bsky.social · 27/11/2025

Great paper, Aaron—and here’s my highest praise: you guys implemented literally all of the kneejerk R2 comments that came up when I read the first page :)

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Zarek Brot @zarekcb.bsky.social · 02/09/2025

@reedabelson.bsky.social @teddyrosenbluth.bsky.social I am not saying you should write celebratory articles about PA (you shouldn’t) but I do not understand why docs cannot, will not be treated as the interest group they are rather than benevolent experts.

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Zarek Brot @zarekcb.bsky.social · 02/09/2025

Also, “I think it’s the back door into privatizing traditional Medicare.” The privatization of Medicare is not exactly happening through the back door…

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Zarek Brot @zarekcb.bsky.social · 02/09/2025

Look, you absolutely do not have to hand it to the administration, but TM has already experimented with prior auth (www.nber.org/papers/w29491). It is good to not let docs use Medicare as a piggy bank! Don’t be scared of buzzwords!

nber.org

Ambulance Taxis: The Impact of Regulation and Litigation on Health Care Fraud

Founded in 1920, the NBER is a private, non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to conducting economic research and to disseminating research findings among academics, public policy makers, an...

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Zarek Brot @zarekcb.bsky.social · 02/09/2025

I get the hand-wringing about the AI of it all but the concern about prior auth for years is the slowness of human review. Many PA rejections are procedural, why not speed them up tremendously? (I do think limiting the “black box” nature of algorithmic denial here is very important though)

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Zarek Brot @zarekcb.bsky.social · 02/09/2025

Just kidding, but only barely! A really disappointing and poorly-framed article that, as always, relies on doctors as “experts” on how they get paid. Yes, doctors don’t like it when you regulate their activities. But federal funds need an advocate and defender too. www.nytimes.com/2025/08/28/h...

nytimes.com

Medicare Will Require Prior Approval for Certain Procedures

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Zarek Brot @zarekcb.bsky.social · 02/09/2025

NYTimes: mobsters absolutely hate anti-racketeering enforcement! Government is using AI to crack down on a subset of crimes, mobsters are worried this could be a “slippery slope” towards using it more broadly!

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Alex Everhart @aoeverhart.bsky.social · 29/08/2025

David Cutler popping off, my goodness jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...

Piece in JAMA Health Forum written by David Cutler entitled, "The Worst Piece of Health Care Legislation Ever"

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Zarek Brot @zarekcb.bsky.social · 27/08/2025

de gustibus EST disputandum

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Zarek Brot @zarekcb.bsky.social · 27/08/2025

Pretty sure I learned how to do it from the appendix of Chandra-Finkelstein-Sacarny-Syverson AER 2016.

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Zarek Brot @zarekcb.bsky.social · 14/03/2025

selecting on the dependent variable

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Zarek Brot @zarekcb.bsky.social · 21/11/2024

So on the margin, there’s a small chance that a faculty member might see these posts, become aware of a candidate, and ask for the committee to consider them.

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Zarek Brot @zarekcb.bsky.social · 21/11/2024

I don’t know how other departments work. But in our group, the interviews/flyouts are chosen by a small committee. That means there are a bunch of faculty who aren’t reading packets. If I saw a good health candidate I might take action bc otherwise the committee might not care.

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Zarek Brot @zarekcb.bsky.social · 03/10/2023

Reining in costs is hard. But (paraphrasing my coauthor Boris) in a world with finite resources where providers have no qualms about prescribing low-value care, policies that discipline the use of care may be necessary.

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Zarek Brot @zarekcb.bsky.social · 03/10/2023

This great article by Betsy Cliff (tradeoffs.org/2023/10/03/p...) discussed our recent paper about prior auth of drugs. She makes a point I feel strongly about: PA is not ideal, but the alternatives are 1) cost sharing, which is worse; or 2) do nothing and let premiums explode, which is bad too.

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