This summer I interned at the Urban Institute’s Health Policy Center, where my work focused primarily on health economics and specifically Medicare policies and programs. One of my projects involved compiling and cleaning data from the Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey for future analyses examining the cost-effectiveness of hospice care. With the recent publication of two studies with conflicting results in this area, it was interesting to review both and gain a better understanding of hospice care in the US.

In another project I conducted a literature review on the Net Investment Income Tax, a key source of funding for Medicare. This was a new topic for me, so I learned a lot about Medicare financing and the growing concerns about its sustainability.

One of the most impactful parts of my experience was learning about the wide range of research at Urban. I had the chance to speak with researchers studying health economics, health disparities, and the relationship between the social safety net and health, which helped me see how I might contribute in my own career given my background and interests.