Author Archives

Stuart M. Butler, PhD, is a Senior Fellow in Economic Studies at the Brookings Institution in Washington, DC.

• JAMA Forum: New Budgeting Tools Will Help Foster Social Determinants of Health

  By Stuart Butler, PhD on November 25, 2019

  

  The growing interest in addressing social determinants of health—nonclinical factors influencing health—raises practical issues about the way we budget for collaborative efforts across governmental departments. In particular, the expanding research on the relationship between such factors as housing, transportation, and… Read More ›

• JAMA Forum: Federalism as an Antidote to Polarization Over Health Care Policy

  By Stuart Butler, PhD on August 14, 2019

  

  It is easy to be pessimistic about the future of health care policy, given the increasing polarization in Congress and in the country. We seem to be condemned to a future mix of gridlock, with occasional winner-takes-all lurches in one… Read More ›

• JAMA Forum: How An Expanded Vision of Managed Care Organizations Could Tackle Inequities

  By Stuart Butler, PhD on April 24, 2019

  

  Are you a Pennsylvanian without a high school diploma? Then sign up with AmeriHealth Caritas for Medicaid and the plan will help you get your GED. Having trouble getting a job in Ohio? If you are enrolled in CareSource, the… Read More ›

• JAMA Forum: Will State Waivers Save, Reform, or Sabotage Obamacare?

  By Stuart Butler, PhD on December 19, 2018

  

  In late November, the Trump administration’s Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) provided new details (or “concepts”) to states on how they can use a provision of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), known as Section 1332. This guidance followed… Read More ›

• JAMA Forum: How “Wrong Pockets” Hurt Health

  By Stuart Butler, PhD on August 22, 2018

  

  Every month about 30 researchers, policy makers, and practitioners from 4 different sectors—health, education, housing, and social services—meet at the Brookings Institution in Washington, DC. We discuss policy reforms that would boost collaboration between sectors to improve the health of… Read More ›

• JAMA Forum: Housing as a Step to Better Health

  By Stuart Butler, PhD on May 16, 2018

  

  JAMA Forum: Housing as a Step to Better Health The medical profession now broadly recognizes that there is much more to good health than having affordable access to excellent medical care. In particular, housing difficulties are seen as comprising an… Read More ›

• JAMA Forum: Don’t Let Budget Cuts Wreck Medicare Reform

  By Stuart Butler, PhD on February 2, 2018

  

  Congressional House leaders plan legislation this year to tackle deficits by curbing entitlements, just weeks after digging a deeper deficit hole with a tax plan that will add an estimated $1.5 trillion to the national debt over the next 10… Read More ›