Simon elected to Health Care Cost Institute executive board

Indiana University O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs Professor Kosali Simon has been elected to the executive board of the Health Care Cost Institute, a major independent, non-profit research institute that uses high-quality data to address the most pressing issues in the health care space.

Simon, a Herman B Wells Endowed Professor, also serves as the university’s inaugural Associate Vice Provost for Health Sciences. She is a nationally known health economist who specializes in applying economic analysis in the context of health insurance and health care policy.

She joins the 11-member HCCI executive board, comprised of some of the nation’s most prominent figures in health care policy, data, and economics. Current members include Aneesh Chopra, the first U.S. Chief Technology Officer under President Barack Obama; Kathe Fox, former Vice President of Informatics at Aetna; and Roy Goldman, former chief actuary of Humana, among others, including representatives from Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

“It’s an incredible honor to be called to serve among such an illustrious group,” Simon said. “The HCCI’s mission is to increase accessibility to high-quality health care claims data, and then use that data to improve the quality and value of our health care systems. As a researcher at the O’Neill School, I am always looking for ways to examine how reforms and outcomes are shaped by health care policy, and this is an outstanding opportunity to contribute to this important work with some of the top scholars and practitioners in the field.”

The HCCI produces research, public data, and interactive tools related to health care cost and utilization. Recent projects include an examination of the impact of COVID-19 on the use of preventative care, a preliminary look at hospital price transparency data, and using Medicare data to improve COVID-19 vaccine targeting.

“The HCCI’s mission of creating a more accessible and efficient health care system for all Americans relies so much on having some of the world’s foremost experts on health policy contributing to our organization,” said Niall Brennan, president and CEO of the HCCI. “With Dr. Simon’s expertise and cutting-edge research on many of these vital policy issues, she will be an incredible addition to our board.”