The health care gap between the rich and poor is growing, largely due to the poor lacking healthcare coverage or having coverage with high copayments and deductibles that prevent them from seeking care. Moreover, our healthcare system relies on a reimbursement process that makes the cost of care and the payment of providers opaque. There is wide variation in how much providers are paid for the same procedure and in the same geographic location. My early research in this area assess the costs and benefits of various health interventions such as the value of antihypertensive drugs. More recently, I have studied the prescribing patterns for opioid and opioid-deterrent medications as well as interventions to reduce the supply of opioids to secondary users (Hasan et al. 2021, Paulsen et al. 2020)
My second line of research in this area has focused on the intersection between healthcare and labor markets. For example, my analysis of data on employer health plans demonstrated that although health care costs initially increased after Massachusetts passed its health care reform law in 2006, disparities in coverage were reduced and healthcare premiums grew no more rapidly than in other states once the reform was fully implemented (Modestino and Dennett 2016). This finding has implications for national healthcare reform efforts focused on fixing the Affordable Care Act. More recently, my analysis of gender differences among physicians confirms the hypothesis of Nobel prizewinner Gary Becker that when markets become more competitive, discriminatory wage-setting practices are reduced as profits shrink (Modestino 2017, Killelea et al. 2019).
PEER REVIEWED JOURNALS
Published, In-Press, or Accepted
†Hasan, M., †Mohite, P., Islam, M., Alam, M. Modestino, A. Peckham, A., Young, L. & Young, G. 2021. Patterns of Patient Discontinuation from Buprenorphine/Naloxone Treatment for Opioid Use Disorder: A Study of a Commercially Insured Population in Massachusetts. Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment, 131:108416.
[Publication]
†Hasan, M. Young, G., †Patel, M.R., Modestino, A., Sanchez, L. Alam, N. 2021. A machine learning framework to predict the risk of opioid use disorder. Machine Learning with Applications, 6(15): 10144.
[Publication]
Paulsen, R.†, Modestino, A., † Hasan, M., Alam, M., Young, L., & Young, G. 2020. Patterns of Buprenorphine/Naloxone Prescribing: An Analysis of Claims Data from Massachusetts. American Journal of Drug and Alcohol Abuse, 46(2): 216-223.
[Publication]
Killelea, B., Modestino, A., Gass, J., Kuerer, H., Margenthaler, J., Boolbol, S., Dietz, J., & Manahan, E. 2019. The 2018 Compensation Survey of the American Society of Breast Surgeons. Annals of Surgical Oncology, 26(10): 3052–3062.
[Publication]
Cutler, D., Long, G. Berndt, E. Sasser, A., Royer, J., Fournier, A. Cremieux, P. 2007. “The Value of Antihypertensive Drugs: A Perspective On Medical Innovation,” Health Affairs, vol. 26, no. 1: 97-110.
[Publication]
[Working Paper Version]
Meadows E, Rousculp M, Sasser A, Birnbaum H, Moyneur E, Mallet D, Johnston J. 2007. “Actual versus predicted first-year utilization patterns of teriparatide in patients with employer-sponsored health insurance.” Current Medical Research and Opinion 23(12):3215-22.
[Publication]
Sasser, A. 2005. “Gender Differences in Physician Pay: Tradeoffs Between Career and Family.” Journal of Human Resources, vol. 40, no. 2.
[Publication]
Sasser, A., Taylor, M., Birnbaum, H., Schoenfeld, M., Oster, E., Rousculp.M. 2005. “Assessing the Economic Impact of Chronic Conditions in Post-Menopausal Women,” Expert Opinion on Pharmacotherapy, vol. 6, no. 11: 1803-1814.
[Publication]
Sasser, A., Rousculp, M., Birnbaum, H., Oster, E., Lufkin, E., Mallet, D. 2005. “Economic Burden of Osteoporosis, Breast Cancer, and Cardiovascular Disease Among Postmenopausal Women in an Employed Population,” Women’s Health Issues, vol. 15, no. 3: 97-108.
[Publication]
Sasser, A., Rousculp, M., Birnbaum, H., Moyneur, E., Wu, E., Marcus, R. 2005. “POS1 Using a Budget Impact Model to Predict First-Year Use of a New Osteoporosis Therapy,” Value in Health, vol. 8, no. 3, pp. 408.
[Publication]
Currently Under Review
Modestino, A. 2022. “The Relationship between Market Forces and Gender Differences in Physician Pay.”
[Revised Version]
[Working Paper]
Working Papers in Preparation for Submission
Modestino, A. and Dennett, J. 2022. “The Impact of Health Care Reform on Employers: Lesson Learned from Massachusetts.”
NON PEER-REVIEWED PUBLIC POLICY REPORTS AND BRIEFS
Sasser, A. 2007. “Reaching the Goal: Expanding Health Insurance Coverage in New England Current Strategies and New Initiatives.” Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, New England Public Policy Center, Research Report No. 07-1.
[Publication]
Lake, T., Sasser, A., Young, C., & Quinn, B. 2002. A Snapshot of the Implementation of California’s Mental Health Parity Law. Mathematica Policy Research, Research Report.
[Publication]
