#  Editorials, Opinions, and Perspectives 

 



### 2025:

["Prescription for Division--Healing the Growing Gap in Physician Trust,"](https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama-health-forum/fullarticle/2843194) *JAMA Health Forum*, 6(12), December 2025, e256765 (with Marcella Alsan).

["Has Corporatization Met Its Match? The Challenge of Making Money by Keeping People Healthy,"](https://www.ovid.com/journals/nejm/fulltext/10.1056/nejmp2513434~has-corporatization-met-its-match-the-challenge-of-making) *New England Journal of Medicine*, 393(22): 2177-2180 (with Robert S. Huckman).

["The Worst Piece of Health Care Legislation Ever,"](https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama-health-forum/fullarticle/2838483) *JAMA Health Forum*, 6(8), August 2025, e254626.

["Cutting the NIH--The $8 Trillion Health Care Catastrophe,"](https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama-health-forum/fullarticle/2834949) *JAMA Health Forum*, 6(5), May 2025, e252791 (with Edward Glaeser).

["Trump's Most Important Health Policy May Be at the Border,"](https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama-health-forum/fullarticle/2831122) *JAMA Health Forum*, 6(2), February 2025, e250617.

### 2024:

"[The Mysteries of Cities and Economic Growth](https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/fandd/issues/2024/12/point-of-view-the-mysteries-of-cities-and-economic-growth-david-cutler)," International Monetary Fund, *F&D* *Finance & Development Magazine*, December 2024 (with Edward Glaeser).

["Ways to Save Money in Health Care,"](https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama-health-forum/fullarticle/2827160) *JAMA Health Forum*, 5(11), November 2024, e244956.

["The Pathology of US Health Care--The Example of Weight Loss Medications,"](https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama-health-forum/fullarticle/2822681) *JAMA Health Forum*, 5(8), August 2024, e243052.

["Financial Games in Health Care--Doing Well Without Doing Good,"](https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama-health-forum/fullarticle/2818759) *JAMA Health Forum*, 5(5), May 2024, e241591.

["The Myth of the Free Market for Pharmaceuticals,](https://www-nejm-org.ezp-prod1.hul.harvard.edu/doi/10.1056/NEJMp2313400)" *The New England Journal of Medicine*, 390(16), April 2024, 1448-1450 (with Rena M. Conti and Richard G. Frank).

"[The New Role of Private Investment in Health Care Delivery](https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama-health-forum/fullarticle/2814795)," *JAMA Health Forum*, 5(2), February 2024, e240164 (with Zirui Song).

### 2023:

"[National Health Expenditures: Reading Past The Headlines](https://www.healthaffairs.org/content/forefront/national-health-expenditures-reading-past-headlines)," *Health Affairs Forefront*, December 2023.

"[Health System Change in the Wake of COVID-19](https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama-health-forum/fullarticle/2811084)," *JAMA Health Forum*, 4(10), October 2023, e234355.

"[In Remembrance Of Victor Fuchs](https://www.healthaffairs.org/content/forefront/remembrance-victor-fuchs?vgo_ee=QQAvBOdWoFuhQhdNkNZqk4HerToqo1EPsxoNpbmB4pNm+bsp0+hpq0mnz4l8AX8=:EIStei3K+MJIjy6DiuC0nly2apwa9aRf)," *Health Affairs Forefront*, October 2023.

"[What Artificial Intelligence Means for Health Care](https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama-health-forum/fullarticle/2807176)," *JAMA Health Forum*, 4(7), July 2023, e232652.

"[Health Care in a Time of Deficit Concern](https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama-health-forum/fullarticle/2802970)," *JAMA Health Forum*, 4(3), March 2023, e230930.

### 2022:

"[Health Workforce Issues More Conspicuous After Onset of COVID-19](https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama-health-forum/fullarticle/2799565)," *JAMA Health Forum*, 3(12), December 2022, e225256.

"[Medicare Enters the Pharmaceutical Purchasing Business](https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama-health-forum/fullarticle/2796056)," *JAMA Health Forum*, 3(9), September 2022, e223630.

"[The Costs of Long COVID](https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama-health-forum/fullarticle/2792505)," *JAMA Health Forum*, 3(5), July 2022, e221809.

\[Update through July 2022: "[The Economic Cost of Long COVID: An Update](/file_url/272)"\]

"[Challenges for the Beleaguered Health Care Workforce During COVID-19](https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama-health-forum/fullarticle/2788637?resultClick=1)," *JAMA Health Forum*, 3(1), January 2022, e220143.

### 2021:

"[Administrative Simplification and the Potential for Saving a Quarter-Trillion Dollars in Health Care](https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/article-abstract/2785480)," *JAMA*, 326(17), October 2021, 1677-1678 (with Nikhil R. Sahni and Brandon Carrus).

"[How COVID-19 Changes the Economics of Health Care](https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama-health-forum/fullarticle/2784006)," *JAMA Health Forum*, 2(9), September 2021, e213309.

"[The Increasing Role of Physician Practices as Bill Collectors: Destined for Failure](https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/article-abstract/2782764)," *JAMA*, 326(8), July 2021, 695-696.

"[Which way will Biden go on health care?](https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama-health-forum/fullarticle/2779776)" *JAMA Health Forum*, 2(5), May 2021, e211280.

"[Building Health Care Better Means Reining in Costs](https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama-health-forum/fullarticle/2776022)," *JAMA Health Forum*, 2(1), January 2021, e210117.

### 2020:

"[The COVID-19 Pandemic and the $16 Trillion Virus](https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/article-abstract/2771764)," *JAMA*, 324(15), October 2020, 1495-1496 (with Lawrence H. Summers). [cs\_appendix.pdf](/file_url/268)

"[Where Health Improvement Lags in Recent Decades--Pain and Mental Health](https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama-health-forum/fullarticle/2772625)," *JAMA Health Forum*, 1(10), October 2020, e201351.

"[New Rules for the Pandemic Era](https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama-health-forum/fullarticle/2768872)," *JAMA Health Forum*, 1(7), July 2020, e200945.

"[Strengthening The Medicare Trust Fund In The Era Of COVID-19](https://www.healthaffairs.org/do/10.1377/forefront.20200608.322412)," *Health Affairs Blog*, June 2020 (with Richard G. Frank, Jonathan Gruber, and Joseph P. Newhouse).

"[Financing Drug Innovation in the US: Current Framework and Emerging Challenges](https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40273-020-00926-2)," *PharmacoEconomics,* 38, May 2020, 905-911.

"[The Business of Medicine in the Era of COVID-19](https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/article-abstract/2765668)," *JAMA*, 323(30), May 2020, 2003-2004 (with Sayeh Nikpay and Robert S. Huckman).

"[How Will COVID-19 Affect the Health Care Economy?](https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama-health-forum/fullarticle/2764547)" *JAMA Health Forum*, 1(4), April 2020, e200419.

"[Are Pharmaceutical Companies Earning Too Much?](https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/article-abstract/2762289)" *JAMA*, 323(9), March 2020, 829-830.

"[Early returns from the era of precision medicine](https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/article-abstract/2758586)," *JAMA*, 323(2), January 2020, 109-110.

### 2019:

"[Nursing Our Way to Better Health](https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/article-abstract/2749859)," *JAMA* 322(11), September 2019, 1033-1034.

"[The Medical Hospital Readmission Reduction Program: Does It Do Any Good?](https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamainternalmedicine/article-abstract/2737041)" *JAMA Internal Medicine*, June 2019, 179(9), 1174-1175 (with Christopher Ody).

"[Practical Steps to Make Health Care Better](https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/article-abstract/2734306)," *JAMA*, 321(20), May 2019, 1962-1963.

"[Life and Death in Norway and the United States](https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/article-abstract/2733321)," *JAMA*, 321(19), May 2019, 1877-1879.

### 2018:

"[With the 2020 Election Looming, Health Care Shapes Up (Again) as a Voting Issue](https://jamanetwork.com/channels/health-forum/fullarticle/2760010)," *JAMA*, December 2018.

“[Extending the User Fee Approach to Pharmaceuticals](/file_url/260),” *JAMA*, 320(15), October 2018, 1525-1526.

“[A Breath of Bad Air: Cost of the Trump Environmental Agenda May Lead to 80,000 Extra Deaths per Decade](/file_url/259),” *JAMA,* 319(22), June 2018 (with Francesca Dominici).

“[The Good and Bad News of Health Care Employment](/file_url/250),” *JAMA*, 319(8), February 2018, 758-759.

“[What Is The US Health Spending Problem?](/file_url/258)” *Health Affairs*, 37(3), March 2018, 493-497.

### 2017:

“[Rising Medical Costs Mean More Rough Times Ahead](/file_url/261)” *JAMA*, 318(6) August 2017, 508-509.

["Should the healthy pay for the sick?"](https://research.ebsco.com/linkprocessor/plink?id=e92d7e75-c098-30b2-859f-6bfdb02dff33) *Washington Post*, March 17, 2017.

### 2016:

[“Health and Taxes,”](https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2571228) *JAMA*, 316 (16), October 2016, 1634-1635.

[“State Regulation of Freestanding Emergency Departments Varies Widely, Affecting Location, Growth, and Services Provided,”](https://doi.org/10.1377/hlthaff.2016.0412) *Health Affairs*, 35 (10), October 2016, 1857-1866 (with Catherine Gutierrez, Rachel A. Lindor, Olesya Baker, and Jeremiah D. Schuur).

[“Campaign Wars: Health Policy in a Fantasy World,”](https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2480472) *JAMA*, 315(1), January 2016, 16-17.

### 2015:

[“Insurers Again at Odds With Hospitals and Physicians,”](https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2449169) *JAMA,* 314(13), October 2015, 1329-1330.

[“From the Affordable Care Act to Affordable Care,”](https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2411293) *JAMA*, 314(4), July 2015, 337-338.

[“Payment Reform is About to Become a Reality,”](https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2279699) *JAMA*, 313(16), April 2015, 1606-1607.

[“A New Federal Health Care Strategy,”](https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2091293) *JAMA*, 313(3), January 2015, 233-234.

### 2014:

[“Who Benefits from Health System Change?”](https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/1917412) *JAMA,* 312(16), October 2014, 1639-1641.

### 2013:

["Health Care Spending--A Giant Slain or Sleeping?"](https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMhpr1310415) *The New England Journal of Medicine*, 369(26), December 2013, 2551-2557 (with David Blumenthal and Kristof Stremikis).

### 2012:

[“Potential Consequences of Reforming Medicare Into a Competitive Bidding System,”](https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/1273025) *JAMA*, 308(5), August 1, 2012, 459-460 (with Michael Chernew and Zirui Song).

[“Paper Cuts: Reducing Health Care Administrative Costs,”](https://cdn.americanprogress.org/wp-content/uploads/issues/2012/06/pdf/papercuts_final.pdf) *Center for American Progress*, June 2012 (with Elizabeth Wikler and Peter Basch).

[“The Affordable Care Act is Constitutional,”](https://doi.org/10.7326/0003-4819-156-12-201206190-00430) *Annals of Internal Medicine*, 156(9), May 2012, 660-663 (with Jonathan Gruber).

[“The Potential for Cost Savings through Bundled Episode Payments,”](https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp1113361) *The New England Journal of Medicine*, 366(12), March 2012, 1075-1077 (with Kaushik Ghosh).

### 2011 (and earlier):

[“The ACO Rules — Striking the Balance between Participation and Transformative Potential,”](https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp1106012) *The New England Journal of Medicine*, 365(4), July 2011, (with Meredith Rosenthal and Judith Feder).

[“Thinking Outside the Pillbox — Medication Adherence as a Priority for Health Care Reform,”](https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp1002305) *The New England Journal of Medicine*, 362(17), April 2010, 1553-1555 (with Wendy Everett).

[“Will the Cost Curve Bend, Even without Reform?”](https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp0907417) *The New England Journal of Medicine*, 361(15), October 2009, 1424-1425.

[“The Next Wave of Corporate Medicine: How We All Might Benefit,”](https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp0904259) *The New England Journal of Medicine*, 361(6), August 2009, 549-55.

[“Health Care in the Next Administration,”](https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp0807567) *The New England Journal of Medicine*, 359(15), October 2008 (with Gail Wilensky).

[“The Demise of the Blockbuster?”](https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp078020) *The New England Journal of Medicine*, 356(13), March 2007, 1292-1293.

[“Disability and the Future of Medicare,”](https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMe038129) *The New England Journal of Medicine*, 349(11), September 2003, 1084-1085.