Jonathan Kolstad

Henry J. Kaiser Chair,
Associate Professor, Economic Analysis and Policy,
Haas School of Business;
Associate Professor, Department of Economics,
University of California, Berkeley

Jonathan Kolstad addresses issues at the intersection of health economics, industrial organization, public economics, and data science. He analyzes the impact of physician incentives, consumer choice, risk adjustment, and access to information on healthcare and health insurance markets. He has extensively researched public healthcare programs such as traditional Medicare and Medicare Advantage, as well as government regulations including the federal Affordable Care Act and state-based health insurance mandates.

Professor Kolstad has applied sophisticated artificial intelligence (AI) techniques, including machine learning (ML) models, to forecast healthcare spending for Medicare, Medicare Advantage, and commercial insurance beneficiaries. He has also assessed how consumers choose insurance plans, the impact of patient cost sharing on prices and demand for health services, and the determinants of physician and hospital performance. Professor Kolstad has assessed COVID-19 surveillance testing (i.e., pooled testing) methodologies.

A recipient of the International Health Economics Association Arrow Award for the best paper in health economics, Professor Kolstad is a prolific author. He has written book chapters, as well as numerous articles in leading journals. His study on cost sharing, “What Does a Deductible Do?,” was covered widely by the public press, including in the New York Times, the Washington Post, and PRI’s “Marketplace.”

Professor Kolstad is also a recipient of the ASHEcon Medal, which the American Society of Health Economists awards every two years to the economist age 40 and under who has made the most significant contributions to the field of health economics.

Professor Kolstad is a research associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research. He is a coeditor at the American Economic Journal: Economic Policy and an associate editor for the Journal of Health Economics. He cofounded and served as chief data scientist of Picwell, a company that helps consumers and employers select health insurance plans.

Previously, Professor Kolstad taught at the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, where he was awarded the Dean’s Recognition for Teaching.

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