Ginsburg, Paul B.

Paul B. Ginsburg is president of the Center for Studying Health System Change (HSC). Founded in 1995, the HSC conducts research to inform policymakers and other audiences about changes in the organization, financing, and delivery of care and the effects on people. Data are gathered through the Community Tracking Study, which includes surveys of households and physicians and site visits to interview health system leaders in 12 communities that are representative of the nation. The HSC is widely known for the objectivity and technical quality of its research and its success in communicating results to policymakers and the media, as well as to the research community. A sister organization to Mathematica Policy Research, the HSC is funded principally by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation but also receives funding from other foundations and from government agencies.

Before founding the HSC, Ginsburg served as the founding executive director of the Physician Payment Review Commission (PPRC), now the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC). Widely regarded as highly influential, the commission developed the Medicare physician payment reform proposal enacted by the U.S. Congress in 1989. Ginsburg was also a senior economist at the RAND Corporation and served as deputy assistant director at the U.S. Congressional Budget Office (CBO). Before that, he served on the faculties of Duke and Michigan State Universities. He earned his doctorate in economics from Harvard University.

Ginsburg is a noted speaker and consultant on the changes taking place in the nation's healthcare system and its future outlook. He frequently testifies before the U.S. Congress. In addition to presentations on the overall direction of change in the healthcare system, recent topics have included cost trends and drivers, consumer-driven healthcare, provider payment, and the future of employer-based health insurance and competition in healthcare. In 2007, for the fifth time, Ginsburg was named by Modern Healthcare as one of the 100 most powerful people in healthcare. He recently received the first annual Health Services Research Impact Award from AcademyHealth, the professional association for health policy researchers and analysts. He is a founding member of the National Academy of [Page 449]Social Insurance and a public trustee of the American Academy of Ophthalmology; he served two elected terms on the Board of AcademyHealth.