Visiting Packer Policy Fellow

Tom Buchmueller has joined CHERE as a Packer Policy Fellow.

The Packer Policy Fellowship is funded by the Packer Family. It is an Australian-American program offered by the Australian Department of Health and Ageing in conjunction with the Commonwealth Fund. It provides outstanding, mid-career U.S. health policy researchers and practitioners the opportunity to spend up to 10 months in Australia conducting original research and working with leading Australian health policy experts on issues relevant to both countries.

Tom Buchmueller was formerly Professor of Economics and Public Policy at the Paul Merage School of Business at the University of California, Irvine. His research focuses mainly on the economics of health insurance and related policy issues.

During his fellowship at CHERE Tom will be analysing the impact of recent private health insurance initiatives on risk selection, market stability and the utilisation of hospital care. “It is interesting to study the mechanisms that drive different insurance markets and how the burden of cost is spread across the membership”, he said.

Tom will be working in close collaboration with CHERE’s A/Professor Elizabeth Savage who has expert knowledge of the Australian PHI market. He will also meet with Health Department officers and representatives of the private hospital and insurance industries to broaden his understanding of the Australian health system and the interplay between the public and private sector.

Upon his return to the USA in June 2007 Tom will take an appointment as Professor of Business Economics and Public Policy at the Ross School of Business, University of Michigan.