Aaron Schwartz
@aschwartz.bsky.social
MD-PhD professing at the University of Pennsylvania. Health, economics, and health economics.
Pinned
Aaron Schwartz
@aschwartz.bsky.social
· May 14
Loss of Subsidized Drug Coverage and Mortality among Medicare Beneficiaries | NEJM
A total of 14 million Medicare beneficiaries receive the Low-Income Subsidy (LIS),
which reduces cost sharing in Medicare Part D. Losing the LIS may impede medication
access and affect mortality. U...
www.nejm.org
Eric Roberts and @joefigs.bsky.social led a groundbreaking new study on Medicaid and Medicare, out today in NEJM. I’m lucky to have been a part of it.
Medicare saves lives. But is it enough to save lives of the most vulnerable Americans? The study suggests no; Medicaid still matters. (1/11)
Medicare saves lives. But is it enough to save lives of the most vulnerable Americans? The study suggests no; Medicaid still matters. (1/11)
Reposted by Aaron Schwartz
🚨 New research 🚨 "Interventions To Automate Medicaid Renewals Reduce Procedural Denials And Increase Coverage," published in Health Affairs from authors @pamherd.bsky.social @giannella.bsky.social, me, @lukef.bsky.social and @donmoyn.bsky.social
Full paper: www.healthaffairs.org/doi/full/10....
Full paper: www.healthaffairs.org/doi/full/10....
Interventions To Automate Medicaid Renewals Reduce Procedural Denials And Increase Coverage | Health Affairs Journal
Burdensome Medicaid renewal processes are a known source of coverage loss among eligible people. In spring 2023, the pause in Medicaid disenrollment resulting from the COVID-19 public health emergency...
www.healthaffairs.org
November 10, 2025 at 7:37 PM
🚨 New research 🚨 "Interventions To Automate Medicaid Renewals Reduce Procedural Denials And Increase Coverage," published in Health Affairs from authors @pamherd.bsky.social @giannella.bsky.social, me, @lukef.bsky.social and @donmoyn.bsky.social
Full paper: www.healthaffairs.org/doi/full/10....
Full paper: www.healthaffairs.org/doi/full/10....
🚨New Publication🚨 Risk-based provider payment is more common in Medicare Advantage than any other segment of US health care financing. What happens to broad categories of health care utilization, and low-value service use, when provider groups adopt these contracts? jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...
Health Care Utilization and Low-Value Service Use After Risk-Based Contract Adoption
This cohort study examined whether health care organizations’ transition to risk-based payment contracts in Medicare Advantage was associated with changes in health care utilization or use of low-valu...
jamanetwork.com
November 10, 2025 at 5:43 PM
🚨New Publication🚨 Risk-based provider payment is more common in Medicare Advantage than any other segment of US health care financing. What happens to broad categories of health care utilization, and low-value service use, when provider groups adopt these contracts? jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...
My boss is very fast.
Congrats to Dr. Harsha Thirumurthy on his latest running achievement! He ran the Tunnel Hill 50-mile race in Illinois. He finished in 5:38:27, setting a new American men’s record in his age group, and breaking the previous record which had stood for a quarter century! @hthirumurthy.bsky.social
November 10, 2025 at 5:33 PM
My boss is very fast.
It’s golden season for the ginkgo trees and I am here for it. A reminder that Philadelphia is home to the oldest ginkgo tree on the continent. 240 years and counting.
November 6, 2025 at 11:20 PM
It’s golden season for the ginkgo trees and I am here for it. A reminder that Philadelphia is home to the oldest ginkgo tree on the continent. 240 years and counting.
Reposted by Aaron Schwartz
Excited to post a new working paper with @instrumenthull.bsky.social and Michal Kolesár: arxiv.org/abs/2511.03572
Will post a thread on it soon, but if you're interested in judge/examiner designs, I think you'll find this guide very helpful!
Will post a thread on it soon, but if you're interested in judge/examiner designs, I think you'll find this guide very helpful!
Leniency Designs: An Operator's Manual
We develop a step-by-step guide to leniency (a.k.a. judge or examiner instrument) designs, drawing on recent econometric literatures. The unbiased jackknife instrumental variables estimator (UJIVE) is...
arxiv.org
November 6, 2025 at 4:06 AM
Excited to post a new working paper with @instrumenthull.bsky.social and Michal Kolesár: arxiv.org/abs/2511.03572
Will post a thread on it soon, but if you're interested in judge/examiner designs, I think you'll find this guide very helpful!
Will post a thread on it soon, but if you're interested in judge/examiner designs, I think you'll find this guide very helpful!
Reposted by Aaron Schwartz
Earlier this week I came across a book with this dedication page (from 1938).
November 6, 2025 at 5:10 PM
Earlier this week I came across a book with this dedication page (from 1938).
November 5, 2025 at 3:17 PM
I gotta say it feels really sleepy here these days regarding research chatter. Is it time for me to finally make a LinkedIn account?
November 5, 2025 at 2:25 PM
I gotta say it feels really sleepy here these days regarding research chatter. Is it time for me to finally make a LinkedIn account?
Off-equilibrium path rewards are also a key strategy for parenting my six year-old. “Ok kiddo if you don’t like the food/movie/activity I’ve chosen for you after 10 minutes I promise I’ll…”
Clever idea in new econ job market candidate JMP
Equilibrium Neglect and Political Feasibility - convince people to support congestion pricing when they are too pessimistic about its effects by offering compensation if traffic fails to improve
drive.google.com/file/d/1u24n...
Equilibrium Neglect and Political Feasibility - convince people to support congestion pricing when they are too pessimistic about its effects by offering compensation if traffic fails to improve
drive.google.com/file/d/1u24n...
November 4, 2025 at 12:49 AM
Off-equilibrium path rewards are also a key strategy for parenting my six year-old. “Ok kiddo if you don’t like the food/movie/activity I’ve chosen for you after 10 minutes I promise I’ll…”
Reposted by Aaron Schwartz
Clever idea in new econ job market candidate JMP
Equilibrium Neglect and Political Feasibility - convince people to support congestion pricing when they are too pessimistic about its effects by offering compensation if traffic fails to improve
drive.google.com/file/d/1u24n...
Equilibrium Neglect and Political Feasibility - convince people to support congestion pricing when they are too pessimistic about its effects by offering compensation if traffic fails to improve
drive.google.com/file/d/1u24n...
November 3, 2025 at 3:24 PM
Clever idea in new econ job market candidate JMP
Equilibrium Neglect and Political Feasibility - convince people to support congestion pricing when they are too pessimistic about its effects by offering compensation if traffic fails to improve
drive.google.com/file/d/1u24n...
Equilibrium Neglect and Political Feasibility - convince people to support congestion pricing when they are too pessimistic about its effects by offering compensation if traffic fails to improve
drive.google.com/file/d/1u24n...
Reposted by Aaron Schwartz
To think there are people out there who don’t watch sports.
November 2, 2025 at 3:44 AM
To think there are people out there who don’t watch sports.
A preview of WISeR?
Enacting evidence-based clinical coverage policies for low-value procedures was not associated with reductions in use among Louisiana Medicaid members. ja.ma/3JC7Boa
November 1, 2025 at 1:05 PM
A preview of WISeR?
Human challenge trial for salmonella vaccine! Progress marches on...
In a trial in healthy U.K. adults who were challenged with S. Paratyphi A in a controlled human infection model, two doses of the candidate vaccine CVD 1902 led to protection against S. Paratyphi A infection. Full VASP phase 2b trial results: nej.md/3Lypfd5
#MedSky #IDSky
#MedSky #IDSky
October 31, 2025 at 1:08 PM
Human challenge trial for salmonella vaccine! Progress marches on...
Appreciated this editorial on the long term results from the prostate cancer screening trial. It's hard to believe we are doing the best we can be when it comes to this screening tool. Screening effectiveness needs to be re-evaluated over time as practices change.
www.nejm.org/doi/full/10....
www.nejm.org/doi/full/10....
Early Detection of Prostate Cancer — Time to Fish or Cut Bait | NEJM
Approaches to early detection of cancer often seem contentious, but the big-picture view is actually one of remarkable consensus. All major guideline groups recommend the Papanicolaou smear, mammog...
www.nejm.org
October 30, 2025 at 1:23 PM
Appreciated this editorial on the long term results from the prostate cancer screening trial. It's hard to believe we are doing the best we can be when it comes to this screening tool. Screening effectiveness needs to be re-evaluated over time as practices change.
www.nejm.org/doi/full/10....
www.nejm.org/doi/full/10....
Reposted by Aaron Schwartz
Some disorganized thoughts about this trial will follow here.
In the EVERDAC trial involving patients with shock, results for death at day 28 indicated that management without early arterial catheter insertion was noninferior to early catheter insertion. Full trial results: nej.md/3LmOO0D
#LIVES2025 | @esicm.bsky.social
#LIVES2025 | @esicm.bsky.social
October 29, 2025 at 2:53 PM
Some disorganized thoughts about this trial will follow here.
Reposted by Aaron Schwartz
In critical care in the US especially, there's unresolved tension between movements to simultaneously minimize arterial access and increase arterial assessment of hypoxemia due to pulse oximetry failures for dark-skinned patients. Like all French studies, this RCT can't report race or ethnicity.
October 29, 2025 at 3:28 PM
In critical care in the US especially, there's unresolved tension between movements to simultaneously minimize arterial access and increase arterial assessment of hypoxemia due to pulse oximetry failures for dark-skinned patients. Like all French studies, this RCT can't report race or ethnicity.
Reposted by Aaron Schwartz
We hope you can join us & @pennchibe.bsky.social for a virtual keynote presentation from Amy Finkelstein about rethinking common inferences in healthcare.
Wednesday 10/29 at 12 PM ET. Register here: https://bit.ly/3VIvfC2
Wednesday 10/29 at 12 PM ET. Register here: https://bit.ly/3VIvfC2
October 24, 2025 at 3:55 PM
We hope you can join us & @pennchibe.bsky.social for a virtual keynote presentation from Amy Finkelstein about rethinking common inferences in healthcare.
Wednesday 10/29 at 12 PM ET. Register here: https://bit.ly/3VIvfC2
Wednesday 10/29 at 12 PM ET. Register here: https://bit.ly/3VIvfC2
Reposted by Aaron Schwartz
🧵Words matter. We are experiencing a flood of unrestrained antisemitism and hate speech. As a survivor of the Pittsburgh synagogue attack, I know where this leads. We have to stop tolerating and normalizing antisemitism and all forms of bigotry.
Seven years later and my heart continues to ache for the 11 people killed and 6 others injured at Pittsburgh’s Tree of Life Synagogue. They were shot as they prayed for no other reason than because they were Jewish.
May their memories forever be a blessing.
May their memories forever be a blessing.
October 27, 2025 at 6:03 PM
🧵Words matter. We are experiencing a flood of unrestrained antisemitism and hate speech. As a survivor of the Pittsburgh synagogue attack, I know where this leads. We have to stop tolerating and normalizing antisemitism and all forms of bigotry.
Reposted by Aaron Schwartz
Forthcoming in AEJ: Macroeconomics: "Health Sector Structural Change" by Nick Pretnar and Maria Feldman. www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=...
Health Sector Structural Change
(Forthcoming Article) - The U.S. health-services sector has grown both in terms of its
expenditure share and relative price. Using a two-sector general
equilibrium model with monopolistic competition ...
www.aeaweb.org
October 27, 2025 at 1:28 PM
Forthcoming in AEJ: Macroeconomics: "Health Sector Structural Change" by Nick Pretnar and Maria Feldman. www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=...
Reposted by Aaron Schwartz
Some authors have contacted AEA editors about an unexpected loss of data access that affects their ability to respond to an R&R. If this affects you, please explain the circumstances in your cover letter. Or reach out to the coeditor if you need guidance before resubmitting. @aeajournals.bsky.social
October 24, 2025 at 4:50 PM
Some authors have contacted AEA editors about an unexpected loss of data access that affects their ability to respond to an R&R. If this affects you, please explain the circumstances in your cover letter. Or reach out to the coeditor if you need guidance before resubmitting. @aeajournals.bsky.social
Love to see this kind of science. New RCT shows aspirin likely harms patients with ischemic heart disease who got a stent and are already on a blood thinner. A lot of people fall into this trial's inclusion criteria.
Kudos to France and Bayer for working on this.
www.nejm.org/doi/full/10....
Kudos to France and Bayer for working on this.
www.nejm.org/doi/full/10....
Aspirin in Patients with Chronic Coronary Syndrome Receiving Oral Anticoagulation | NEJM
The appropriate antithrombotic regimen for patients with chronic coronary syndrome
who are at high atherothrombotic risk and receiving long-term oral anticoagulation
remains unknown. We conducted a...
www.nejm.org
October 23, 2025 at 12:39 PM
Love to see this kind of science. New RCT shows aspirin likely harms patients with ischemic heart disease who got a stent and are already on a blood thinner. A lot of people fall into this trial's inclusion criteria.
Kudos to France and Bayer for working on this.
www.nejm.org/doi/full/10....
Kudos to France and Bayer for working on this.
www.nejm.org/doi/full/10....
Reposted by Aaron Schwartz
The cost of health insurance rose steeply for a third year in a row in 2025, reaching just under $27,000 for a family plan, according to an annual survey.
The Average Cost of a Family Health Insurance Plan Is Now $27,000
Higher spending on chronic diseases, weight-loss drugs and hospital bills helped drive the increase.
on.wsj.com
October 22, 2025 at 9:58 AM
The cost of health insurance rose steeply for a third year in a row in 2025, reaching just under $27,000 for a family plan, according to an annual survey.
Reposted by Aaron Schwartz
This is grim. In addition to policy uncertainty, budget pressures load most heavily on PhD programs, which are low revenue and high cost compared to undergraduate and master's programs. They are also key drivers of discovery and overall educational quality in the long run.
Wow. Harvard nuking its PhD programs
- Science PhD admissions reduced by more than 75%
- Arts & Humanities reduced by about 60%
- Social Sciences by 50–70%
- History by 60%
- Biology by 75%
- The German department will lose all PhD seats
- Sociology from six PhD students to zero
- Science PhD admissions reduced by more than 75%
- Arts & Humanities reduced by about 60%
- Social Sciences by 50–70%
- History by 60%
- Biology by 75%
- The German department will lose all PhD seats
- Sociology from six PhD students to zero
Harvard FAS Cuts Ph.D. Seats By More Than Half Across Next Two Admissions Cycles | News | The Harvard Crimson
The Faculty of Arts and Sciences slashed the number of Ph.D. student admissions slots for the Science division by more than 75 percent and for the Arts & Humanities division by about 60 percent for th...
www.thecrimson.com
October 21, 2025 at 5:26 PM
This is grim. In addition to policy uncertainty, budget pressures load most heavily on PhD programs, which are low revenue and high cost compared to undergraduate and master's programs. They are also key drivers of discovery and overall educational quality in the long run.
Very large premium increases on the horizon. www.inquirer.com/health/penni...
October 16, 2025 at 2:34 PM
Very large premium increases on the horizon. www.inquirer.com/health/penni...
Update: CMS decided it might not be a good idea to halt payment to all physicians from Part B, the largest purchaser of physician services in the US.
www.statnews.com/2025/10/15/c...
www.statnews.com/2025/10/15/c...
Shibboleth Authentication Request
www-statnews-com.proxy.library.upenn.edu
October 16, 2025 at 1:24 PM
Update: CMS decided it might not be a good idea to halt payment to all physicians from Part B, the largest purchaser of physician services in the US.
www.statnews.com/2025/10/15/c...
www.statnews.com/2025/10/15/c...