Paul Jacobs, PhD (Economics)

Paul D. Jacobs, PhD, is an Economist and Associate Scientist at the Center for Health Systems and Policy Modeling (CHSPM) within the Bloomberg School of Public Health. He has over 20 years of experience in healthcare research covering a wide range of issues including coverage, financing, and hospital payment policy. He also has an extensive background in policy modeling with a focus on household financing of health coverage including related issues of affordability, consumer plan choice, and Medicare Advantage payment policy.

Prior to joining CHSPM, Paul was an Economist and Mathematical Statistician at the U.S. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), where he published more than 30 peer-reviewed articles across a range of policy relevant topics. While at AHRQ, he managed several teams tasked with survey design and methodology for the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS). Prior to AHRQ, Paul worked at the Congressional Budget Office where he developed economic microsimulation models of the U.S. healthcare system. Those models spanned a broad range of key issues in healthcare including the Affordable Care Act and proposals to reform Medicare payment and health plan choice.

Paul obtained a Ph.D. in economics from American University in 2008 culminating in a dissertation on the affordability of private health insurance while working with Jonathan Gruber, Professor of Economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, as an external advisor.