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MIT Ford Professor of Economics Amy Finkelstein, who studies the economics of health... Read More

MIT Ford Professor of Economics Amy Finkelstein, who studies the economics of health and healthcare, poses for a portrait at MIT in Cambridge. Close

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MIT Ford Professor of Economics Amy Finkelstein, who studies the economics of health and healthcare, poses for a portrait at MIT in Cambridge.

Jan. 3 (Bloomberg) -- Theres no shortage of theories about health-care policy. Amy Finkelstein wants facts.

Her newest research, based on data from Oregon, builds on her agenda: measuring the effects of health programs with scientific rigor. She and colleagues found that Medicaid coverage increased emergency department visits by 40 percent, according to the latest findings in their continuing study, released yesterday in the journal Science.

Weve shown that there are real benefits but also real costs to Medicaid, said the Massachusetts Institute of Technology economics professor. My fervent hope, and I dont think its entirely nave, is that this will lead to a more informed public-policy discussion.

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Finkelsteins pursuit of policy-relevant evidence has placed her at the pinnacle of her field. When the American Economic Association awards committee selected her for its 2012 John Bates Clark Medal, it called her the leading scholar in health economics. Winners of the medal, awarded annually to an economist under the age of 40, include 12 Nobel Prize laureates and two White House chief economists.

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MIT Economist Seeks Facts in Health-Care Policy Debate