Institute Fellow
Health Policy Center
"My policy niche is the intersection of practice and policy. For most of my professional career, I was a practicing internist and health care manager. In the past decade, I have moved into policy and find that policymakers typically have little understanding of what actually occurs on the ground and why their recommended approaches won't work as intended. I try to tell the policymakers before they err, but often get to say, "I told you so." But in a system in which most stakeholders resist change, it is easier to know for sure what won't work than what will."
Robert Berenson is an expert in health care policy, particularly Medicare, with experience practicing medicine, serving in senior positions in two presidential administrations, and helping organize and manage a successful preferred provider organization. From 1998 to 2000, he was in charge of Medicare payment policy and private health plan contracting in the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Previously, he served as an assistant director of the Carter White House domestic policy staff and recently was a member of the Obama transition team. Effective July 2009, Dr. Berenson became a commissioner of the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) and was named vice-chair in 2010.
Dr. Berenson is a board-certified internist who practiced for 20 years, the last 12 in a Washington, D.C., group practice. He was coauthor, with Walter Zelman, of The Managed Care Blues & How to Cure Them, and, with Rick Mayes, of Medicare Payment Policy and the Shaping of U.S. Health Care. He publishes frequently in medical and health care journals including the New England Journal of Medicine, the Journal of the American Medical Association, and Health Affairs. He has also written for the New Republic and the American Prospect.
MD, Mount Sinai School of Medicine
Areas of expertise
Medicare, health care reform, provider payment, quality of care, physicians, cost containment
Selected Publications from Robert A. Berenson
What if All Physician Services Were Paid Under the Medicare Fee Schedule? An Analysis Using Medical Group Management Association DataUnchecked Provider Clout In California Foreshadows Challenges To Health Reform How Does the Quality of U.S. Health Care Compare Internationally? Publications by topic:
Elderly
Health and Health Care
Medicare
Health Insurance and Medicare
See all publications by Robert A. Berenson
Media Quotes and Appearances:
http://www.modernhealthcare.com/article/20101220/MAGAZINE/101219958
To contact this expert, call the Office of Public Affairs (202) 261-5709 or e-mail publicaffairs AT urban.org
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