Carey’s service sabbatical focuses on drug pricing reforms

Associate Professor of Economics and Public Policy Colleen Carey is taking a unique approach to her sabbatical year, traveling to Washington D.C. to take up a part-time advisory role as Fellow at the Centers[CC1] for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

For Carey, whose PhD at Johns Hopkins University focused on the design of the Medicare Part D insurance markets, the fellowship represents a chance to help inform federal policy at a crucial moment with expertise that has been honed over years both researching and teaching the subject matter. The advisory role builds on her research into prescription drug coverage, particularly in Medicare, shared with many Brooks School students in her popular elective Pharmaceutical Management and Policy.

"I not only have an opportunity to learn about and shape a new policy but also to share expertise with the federal government on a topic where there are going to be a lot of difficult choices to make," said Carey.

For Brooks School Associate Dean of Engagement Jamila Michener, Carey's service sabbatical is an example of how Brooks professors connect research, engaged learning and active participation in shaping policy.

"I was excited to hear about Colleen's decision. As Brooks School faculty, we want to make the world a better place by making better policy," said Michener. "To do that you can't always just be researching, because policy is a real-world practice that affects individuals and communities in real time."

The 2022 Inflation Reduction Act gave new powers to the Federal government to bargain prices for top-spending drugs in Medicare, with the aim of lowering out-of-pocket costs for beneficiaries and government expenditures. In her role as Fellow, Carey will join a team engaging in the first round of negotiations for prices, preparing for the next round of negotiations, and setting up a long-term structure for evaluation.

"The U.S. is about to do something that it's never done- which is to negotiate the price of pharmaceuticals with the industry in the way that many other countries do," Carey said. "What is the fair price of a pharmaceutical? It's an extremely difficult question to answer."

Carey is no stranger to the subject matter, having authored four papers on prescription drugs in Medicare , or to the policy landscape- she served as a staff economist at the Council of Economic Advisors during the rollout of the Affordable Care Act. But the problem facing the team at the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services represents an entirely new kind of challenge.

"I teach in my class that there have been these incredible advances in the pharmaceutical industry and we've gotten huge benefits from prescription drugs and yet we pay a lot more than other countries do," said Carey. "I also emphasize the linkage between pharmaceutical profits and the development of new drugs. So, it's a tough challenge for CMS to find the best course forward."

While Carey said the specifics of her engagement are still to be worked out, she felt certain the experience would be an enriching one that would give her new ideas for research, for teaching, and for sharing her knowledge.

Carey is interested to see whether "service sabbaticals" like hers become more common, and hopes her experience can serve as a model for other faculty and other agencies seeking to tap university expertise.

Giles Morris is assistant dean for communications in the Cornell Jeb E. Brooks School of Public Policy.

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