Professor Scheffler spoke about a recent study finding an increase in anxiety disorder among college students. He presented these findings as part of “A Generation Under Pressure: Talking Mental Health at UC Berkeley,” an event hosted by the Berkeley Institute for the Future of Young Americans as part of the Goldman School of Public Policy on April 18th.
Distinguished Professor Emeritus Richard Scheffler gave a presentation during the “Strategic Outlook on the Health Care Market” session as part of the UCI Health Care Forecast Conference on March 11, 2019. Scheffler focused on healthcare consolidation, mainly centered on current trends in hospital consolidation and the impact on prices in California. HHI (a measure of consolidation) and hospital prices demonstrate a positive correlation among California counties. Scheffler also touches on “large” vertical mergers including CVS-Aetna and Cigna-Express Scripts.
Health Affairs published a blog post on February 8th describing the a new paper by the Petris Center. The paper “proposes an alternative path to move California towards universal coverage using a two-pronged approach: controlling high health care costs and employing novel sources of financing for universal coverage. This plan would provide health coverage to 3.55 million uninsured Californians, including low-income and undocumented persons, as well as those who receive only partial Medicaid benefits in line with the definition of insured used by the Congressional Budget Office. The key element of this approach is the use of risk-based capitated care delivery models.”
The blog post can be read here
The full paper can be accessed here
Over the past year, the Petris Center has been conducting a study in collaboration with the Berkeley Center for the Future of Young Americans (BIFYA) on the alarming rise of anxiety in Millennials. The project has recently released its first policy brief, “The Anxious Generation: Causes and Consequences of Anxiety Disorder Among Young Americans.” The brief documents the study’s preliminary findings on the spike of anxiety among college students and young Americans. Today, anxiety disorder is the top presenting concern at college counseling centers, and rates are not only increasing, but also growing at a rate faster than depression and all mental health disorders combined.
Existing research points to several possible factors contributing to this rise in anxiety, including financial stress, technology, social media, and sociopolitical factors. The next phase of the study, led by Petris Center Director Dr. Richard Scheffler, will delve into each of these determinants, and explore whether certain cohorts are more at risk, measure the economic cost of rising anxiety, and propose policy solutions.
You can read the full policy brief here.
You can read BIFYA’s press release about the study and brief here.
The Petris Center is hosting visiting scholar Dr. Heinz J. Janßen for several weeks this fall. Dr. Janßen is a professor of public health at Bremen University of Applied Sciences in Germany, focusing on Health Economics and Healthcare Management, where he has taught since 2004. He has severed as the University’s Dean of the Faculty of Social Science since 2012 and currently serves as the head of the University’s Institute of Health and Nursing Economics, with previous positions as the director of the University’s International Degree Course in Health and Nursing Management and as the project leader and EU coordinator for the International Master Degree in Health Care and Social Management. His research interests include health economics evaluations, health services research, evaluations in orthopedics, cardiology, internal medicine, geriatrics, and rehabilitation; and is currently working on researching a project entitled “Evaluation of Mobile Geriatric Rehabilitation,” funded by the German Ministry of Health through 2018.
For Dr. Janßen’s CV, click here.
The Petris Center is hosting visiting scholar Dr. Robert Berenson from the Urban Institute for several months in Spring 2016.
Dr. Berenson has worked at the Urban Institute as a fellow since 2003, where he conducts research and provides policy analysis primarily on health care delivery issues, particularly related to Medicare payment policy, pricing power in commercial insurance markets, and new forms of health delivery based on reinvigorated primary care practices.
In 2012, Berenson completed a three-year term on the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission, the last two years as vice chair. 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 White House Domestic Policy Staff under President Carter.
Berenson is a board-certified internist who practiced for 20 years, the last 12 years in a Washington, DC, group practice. He is the coauthor of The Managed Care Blues & How to Cure Them with Walter Zelman, and Medicare Payment Policy and the Shaping of U.S. Health Care, with Rick Mayes.
Berenson is a graduate of the Mount Sinai School of Medicine, a fellow of the American College of Physicians, and on the faculty at the George Washington University School of Public Health and the Fuqua School of Business at Duke University.
You can read Dr. Berenson’s full bio here.
The appendices for the Berkeley Forum are now available for download. You can download them from our Berkeley Forum Page at the bottom.
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