The Electronic Health Economics Colloquium (EHEC) is a bi-weekly online health economics seminar series. The goals of EHEC are to share high-quality, new health economics research on a platform that is freely available; maintain and improve communication among health economists during a time of social distancing; and to promote equity in health economics research.
Upcoming Webinars
Can Redrawing Boundaries Save Lives? Evidence from a Reform of the Kidney Allocation System
Presented by: Hannah Bae
Abstract: Determining eligibility for publicly regulated goods and services based on geographic boundaries faces tradeoffs between equity in access and administrative costs. A 2021 reform re-drew the geographic areas for matching donated kidneys to patients, shifting from arbitrary county-based boundaries to 250 nautical miles from the place of organ recovery. The reform lowered the kidney discard rate by 17 percent and reduced pretransplant mortality. The estimated increase in additional transplants per year implies substantial improvements in life expectancy and quality of life, even after accounting for organ quality and baseline health characteristics of marginal transplant recipients
Wednesday, April 15, 2:00 PM EST
Health Impacts of Federal Pandemic Aid to State and Local Governments
Presented by: Anwita Mahajan
Abstract: Like much of healthcare, the U.S. dialysis industry has become increasingly consolidated. Yet, evidence on the mechanisms and magnitude of consolidation’s impact on patient health remains limited. Using 30 years of administrative data covering more than 800 mergers and a stacked event-study design, we show that mergers trigger facility closures and short-term treatment disruptions that harm patients. Patients receive fewer dialysis sessions, and mortality rises by roughly 700 deaths per 100,000 patients in the merger year. Over time, patient health improves, with fewer hospitalizations, ICU days, and blood transfusion events, even as effects on laboratory biomarkers remain mixed. These merger effects are not driven by changes in market concentration, and hold across Medicare payment regimes with differing reimbursement structures and quality incentives. Mergers’ health costs, through short-run mortality increases, outweigh their benefits, through long-run reductions in hospitalization. Yet, targeted antitrust safeguards against post-merger treatment disruptions have the potential to curtail harms without sacrificing gains.
Wednesday, May, 6, 2:00 PM EST
The Price of Portability: How Interstate Licensing Transforms Mental Health Markets
Presented by: CiCi McNamara
Abstract: Like much of healthcare, the U.S. dialysis industry has become increasingly consolidated. Yet, evidence on the mechanisms and magnitude of consolidation’s impact on patient health remains limited. Using 30 years of administrative data covering more than 800 mergers and a stacked event-study design, we show that mergers trigger facility closures and short-term treatment disruptions that harm patients. Patients receive fewer dialysis sessions, and mortality rises by roughly 700 deaths per 100,000 patients in the merger year. Over time, patient health improves, with fewer hospitalizations, ICU days, and blood transfusion events, even as effects on laboratory biomarkers remain mixed. These merger effects are not driven by changes in market concentration, and hold across Medicare payment regimes with differing reimbursement structures and quality incentives. Mergers’ health costs, through short-run mortality increases, outweigh their benefits, through long-run reductions in hospitalization. Yet, targeted antitrust safeguards against post-merger treatment disruptions have the potential to curtail harms without sacrificing gains. Interstate occupational licensure compacts are an increasingly popular way of addressing provider shortages in mental healthcare markets. I study the effects of licensure compacts on the size and composition of the psychologist workforce. I develop an empirical model of entry for psychologists differentiated by whether they provide in-person or virtual care. Results show that the Psychologist Interjurisdictional Compact increased overall supply by 2.9 psychologists per market but decreased in-person supply by 0.59 psychologists. Fifty-three percent of this decline is attributable to increased competitive pressure from out-of-state therapists. While geographic license portability increases supply, it reduces access to in-person care.
Wednesday, May 20, 2:00 PM EST
Past Webinars
Monitoring Pressure and Billing Practices: Evidence from Medicare Recovery Audits
Presented by: Jianjing Lin
Wednesday, November 19, 2:30 PM EST
Labor supply effects of ill health: a weighted instrumental variable approach to misclassification of health measures
Presented by: Ning Li
Wednesday, November 5, 2:30 PM EST
The Effects of Health Shocks on Time Spent in Home Production
Presented by: Suchika Chopra
Wednesday, October 15, 2:30 PM EDT
“Impact of Medicaid Pregnancy Dental Benefits on Prenatal Dental Utilization and Birth Outcomes”
Presented by: Anwar Assamidanov (University of California, Irvine)
Wednesday, October 1, 2:30 PM EDT
“The Consequences of Federal Abortion Funding Bans”
Presented by: Mayra Pineda-Torres (joint with Lauren Hoehn-Velasco and Nikita Dhingra)
Date: 4/16, 2025 at 2:00 PM EDT
“Health Inequality And Economic Disparities by Race, Ethnicity, and Gender”
Presented by: Nicolo Russo (joint with Rory McGee, Mariacristina De Nardi, Margherita Borella, and Ross Abram)
Date: 3/26/2025 at 2:00 PM EDT
“Performance Scores and Strategic Choices of Kidney Transplant Centers”
Presented by: Han Ng
Date: 3/12/2025 at 2:00 PM EDT
“Knowledge Growth and Specialization: Evidence from Oncologists”
Presented by: Maya Lozinski
Date: 2/26/2025 at 2:00 PM EDT
“Representation in Product Development: Evidence from Insurance and Clinical Trials”
Presented by: Jennifer Kao (joint with Tamar Oostrom)
Date: 11/13/2024 at 2:00 PM EDT
“The Mental Health Impacts of the Work-from-Home Revolution
October 30”
Presented by: Joe Spearing (joint with Benjamin Cowan)
Date: 10/30/2024 at 2:00 PM EDT
“A Lifesaving Subscription? Evaluating Louisiana’s Attempt to Eliminate Hepatitis C”
Presented by: James Flynn (joint with Barton Willage)
Date: 10/16/2024 at 2:00 PM EDT
“Workforce quality in early years interventions: Evidence from a large-scale home visiting program”
Presented by: Gabriella Conti (joint with Sarah Cattan and Christine Farquharson)
Date: 10/9/2024 at 2:00 PM EDT
“Medical Bill Shock and Imperfect Moral Hazard”
Presented by: Alex Hoagland
Date: 4/24/2024 at 2:00 PM EDT
“The Role of Information in Pharmaceutical Advertising: Theory and Evidence”
Presented by: Kelli Marquardt
Date: 4/10/2024 at 2:30 PM EDT
“Supplier Enforcement and the Opioid Crisis”
Presented by: J. Travis Donahoe
Date: 3/20/2024 at 2:30 PM EDT
“SNAP Eligible Products and Behavioral Demand”
Presented by Katherine Harris-Lagoudakis
Date: Wednesday, March 6, 2024 at 2:30 PM EDT
“The Power of Public Insurance With Limited Benefits: Evidence from China’s New Cooperative Medical Scheme”
Presented by Emma Zai
Moderator: Shooshan Danagoulian
Date: 5/17/2023 at 2:30 PM EST
“Health Care Spending Growth Has Slowed: Will the Bend in the Curve Continue?”
Presented by Joe Newhouse
Moderator: David Bradford
Date: 4/19/2023 at 2:30 PM EST
“Information Shocks and Health Behaviors: Evidence from Breast Cancer Screening Recommendations”
Presented by Brandyn Churchill
Moderator: Ezra Golberstein
Date: 3/15/2023 at 2:30 PM EST
“Provider Opioid Prescribing Behaviors and Opioid Use in Medicaid”
Presented by Becky Staiger
Moderator: Sayeh Nikpay
Date: 2/22/2023 at 2:30 PM EST
Presented by Catherine Maclean
Moderator: Shooshan Danagoulian
Date: 12/7/2022
Date: 11/16/2022
Presenter: David Cutler
Moderator: Ezra Golberstein
Date: 10/12/2022
Presenter: Nathaniel Breg
“Medical Technologies with Comparative Advantages on Different Dimensions: Evidence from Hysterectomy”
Date: 9/14/2022
Presenter: Sarah Miller
“The Long-Term Effects of Income for At-Risk Infants: Evidence from Supplemental Security Income”
| Date: 7/20/2022 at 2:30 PM EDT Presenter: Jonathan Roth “The Effects of Physicians’ Financial Transfers from Drug Firms on Prescribing of Physician-Administered Cancer Drugs” |
| Date: 5/18/2022 at 2:30 PM EDT Presenter: Jing Li “The Effects of Physicians’ Financial Transfers from Drug Firms on Prescribing of Physician-Administered Cancer Drugs” |
The Consequences of Federal Abortion Funding Bans
Presented by: Mayra Pineda-Torres (joint with Lauren Hoehn-Velasco and Nikita Dhingra)
Date: 4/20/2022
Presenter: Jonathan Zhang
“The Impact of Disability Income on Health and Economic Well-Being: Evidence from the VA’s Disability Compensation Program”
| Date: 3/16/2022 at 2:30 PM EDT Presenter: Rebecca Myerson “Information Gaps and Health Insurance Enrollment: Evidence from the Affordable Care Act Navigator Programs” |
| Date: 2/16/2022 at 2:30 PM EDT Presenter: Giuseppe Moscelli “The impact of the 2016 Junior Doctor Contract on the retention of trainee doctors within the English NHS” |
| Date: 1/19/2022 at 2:30 PM EDT Presenter: John Cawley “Taxes on Sugar-Sweetened Beverages: Impacts on Prices, Purchases, and Consumption” |
| Date: 12/22/2021 at 2:30 PM EDT Presenter: Christopher Whaley “Who Pays for Health Care Costs? The Effects of Health Care Prices on Wages” |
| Date: 12/1/2021 at 2:30 PM EDT Presenter: Conor Lennon “Employer Sponsored Health Insurance and Labor Market Outcomes for Gay Men: Evidence from the Advent of Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis” |
Date: 11/10/2021
Presenter: Marit Hinnosaar
“Malleability of Alcohol Consumption: Evidence from Migrants”
| Date: 10/20/2021 at 2:30 PM EDT Presenter: Carolina Arteaga “The Opioid Epidemic: Causes and Consequences” |
Date: 9/29/2021
Presenter: Rena Conti
“The Economics of Drug Price Reform”
Date: 9/15/2021
Presenter: Daniel Guth, Mayra Pineda-Torres
“Graduate Student Presentations”
| Date: 8/11/2021 at 2:30 PM EDT Presenter: Maggie Shi, Ernest Dorilas “Graduate Student Presentations” |
| Date: 7/14/2021 Presenter: Alex Hollingsworth, Kelli Marquardt, Grant McDermott “Getting Started with R” |
| Date: 6/16/2021 Presenter: Pedro Sant’Anna and Andrew Goodman-Bacon “New Developments in Difference-in-differences Estimators” |
| Date: 5/19/2021 Presenter: Kate Bundorf “How do Humans Interact with Algorithms? Experimental Evidence from Health Insurance” |
| Date: 5/5/2021 Presenter: Adrienne Sabety “The Value of Relationships in Health Care” |
| Date: 4/21/2021 Presenter: Rebecca Sachs “Safety Net Cutbacks and Hospital Service Provision: Evidence from Psychiatric Care” |
| Date: 4/7/2021 Presenter: Sherry Glied “The Impact of Price (Charge) Transparency in Outpatient Provider Markets” |
| Date: 3/24/2021 Presenter: Michael Richards “Raising the Stakes: Physician Facility Investments and Provider Agency” |
| Date: 3/10/2021 Presenter: Atul Gupta “Does Private Equity Investment in Healthcare Benefit Patients? Evidence from Nursing Homes” |
| Date: 2/24/2021 Presenter: Trevon Logan “Physician Bias and Racial Disparities in Health: Evidence from Veterans’ Pensions” |
| Date: 2/10/2021 Presenter: Tamar Oostrom “Funding of Clinical Trials and Reported Drug Efficacy” |
| Date: 1/27/2021 Presenter: Nicolas Ziebarth “The Long-Run Effects of Sports Club Vouchers for Primary School Children” |
| Date: 1/13/2021 Presenter: Anupam Bapu Jena “Natural Experiments in Health Care” |
Date: 12/16/2020
Presenter: Lina Song
“The Impact of Vertical Integration on Physician Behavior and Healthcare Delivery: Evidence from Gastroenterology Practices”
| Date: 12/2/2020 Presenter: Sarah S. Stith “Does Increasing Access-to-Care Delay Accessing of Care? Evidence from Kidney Transplantation” |
| Date: 11/18/2020 Presenter: Nicholas Tilipman “Disagreement Payoffs and Negotiated Prices: Evidence from Out-of-Network Hospital Payments” |
| Date: 11/4/2020 Presenter: Hannes Ullrich “Machine predictions and human decisions with variation in payoffs and skill” |
| Date: 10/21/2020 Presenter: Viviane Sanfelice “Mosquito-Borne Disease and Newborn Health” |
| Date: 10/7/2020 Presenter: Chenyuan Liu “Sorting on Plan Design: Theory and Evidence from the ACA” |
| Date: 9/23/2020 Presenter: Atheendar Venkataramani “Maternal Mortality and Women’s Political Participation” |
| Date: 9/9/2020 Presenter: Tobias Klein “The Response to Dynamic Incentives in Insurance Contracts with a Deductible: Evidence from a Differences-in-Regression-Discontinuities Design” |
| Date: 8/26/2020 Presenter: Adelina Wang (National Bureau of Economic Research) “The Impact of Alternative Types of Post-Acute Medical Care: Stratified IV Analysis with Machine Learning Using Nursing Home Exits” |
| Date: 8/12/2020 Presenter: Ashvin Gandhi (University of California, Los Angeles) “Picking Your Patients: Selective Admissions in the Nursing Home Industry” |
Date: 7/29/2020
Presenter: Caitlin Carroll
“Physician Response to Malpractice Allegations: Evidence from Florida Emergency Departments”
| Date: 7/15/2020 Presenter: Alex Hollingsworth “Tactics for design and inference in synthetic control studies: An applied example using high-dimensional data” |
| Date: 7/1/2020 Presenter: Osea Giuntella “Why Don’t We Sleep Enough? A Field Experiment Among College Students” |
| Date: 6/24/2020 Presenter: SafeGraph, PlaceIQ, UberMedia “Cellular Device Location Data: What, Where, and How?” |
| Date: 6/17/2020 Presenter: Maya Rossin-Slater “Family Spillover Effects of Misdiagnosis: The Case of ADHD” |
| Date: 6/3/2020 Presenter: Amy Finkelstein “Voluntary Regulation: Evidence from Medicare Payment Reform” |
Date: 5/20/2020
Presenter: Amitabh Chandra
“Choosing Unwisely: Behavioral Hazard and Patient Decision Making”
| Date: 5/6/2020 Presenter: Jonathan Gruber “Managing Intelligence: Skilled Experts and AI in Markets for Complex Products” |
| Date: 4/22/2020 Presenter: Kosali Simon “Tracking Public and Private Responses to the COVID-19 Epidemic” |
Can Redrawing Boundaries Save Lives? Evidence from a Reform of the Kidney Allocation System
Presented by: Hannah Bae
Wednesday, April 15, 2:30 PM EST
EHEC is co-organized by:
Willa Friedman 
@willafriedman
Orgul Ozturk @orgul_ozturk
David Bradford @bradfowd1
Jason Mose
EHEC is also supported by an organizing committee of:
Heidi Allen
David Anderson
Erkmen Aslim
David Bradford
Willa Friedman
Christian Kronborg
Catherine Maclean
Keith Marzilli
Sarah Miller
Jason Mose
Orgul Ozturk
Adam Sacarny
Bradley Shapiro
Kosali Simon
Sebastian Tello-Trillo
Laura Wherry