Kosali Simon

Dr. Kosali Simon joined SPEA as a professor in 2010. In 2016 she was named a Herman B Wells Endowed Professor, becoming only the third recipient of this honor at Indiana University.

Simon is a nationally known health economist who specializes in applying economic analysis in the context of health insurance and health care policy. Her current research mainly focuses on the impact of health insurance reform on healthcare and labor market outcomes, and on the causes and consequences of the opioid crisis. She is also active in national leadership roles in her profession, serving on several boards and in editorial positions. A summary of her recent research appears in the 2016 National Bureau of Economic Research Reporter.

Simon is a research associate of the National Bureau for Economic Research, a group with which she has been affiliated since 2002. She serves as a member of the governing body of the Association for Public Policy Analysis and management (APPAM). From 2009-2016, she served as a board member of the American Society of Health Economists; from 2014-2017 she served as a board member of the American Economic Association (AEA)'s Committee on the Status of Women in Economics (CSWEP), and directed the national mentoring program for female assistant professors in economics. She also served a three-year term with the nation's largest health philanthropy, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF); in 2013, she was selected to the National Advisory Committee of RWJF Health Policy Scholars Program, a committee composed of 13 nationally recognized experts in social science and health policy. In 2007, Simon was recognized for her early contributions to health services research as the recipient of the John D. Thompson Prize for Young Investigators.

Related to editorial roles, she is an associate editor of the Journal of Health Economics and of Health Economics, and an editorial board member of the American Journal of Health Economics, International Journal of Health Economics and Management, and the Journal of Policy Analysis and Management.

Academic Degrees

• Ph.D., Economics, University of Maryland, College Park, 1999
• B.A., Hamilton College, 1994

Awards, Honors & Certificates

• Election to a four-year term as one of two academic representatives on the Association for Public Policy Analysis & Management Policy Council, 2016
• Addington Prize in Measurement (shared with coauthors), Frasier Institute , 2013
• Musgrave Prize (shared with coauthors), National Tax Association, 2012

Selected Publications

• Soni, A. [Aparna], Sommers, B., and Sabik, L. (2018). Changes in Insurance Coverage Among Cancer Patients After the Affordable Care Act. JAMA Oncology, 4(1), 122-124.
• Lavetti, K., and Simon, K. (2018). Strategic Formulary Design in Medicare Part D Plans. American Economic Review-Economic Policy, 10(3), 154-192.
• Heim, B., Lurie, I., and Simon, K. (2018). The Impact of the Affordable Care Act Young Adult Provision on Childbearing: Evidence From Tax Data. Demography, 55(4), 1233–1243.
• Simon, K., Soni, A. [Aparna], and Cawley, J. (2017). The Impact of Health Insurance on Preventive Care and Health Behaviors: Evidence from the First Two Years of the ACA Medicaid Expansions. Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, 36(2), 390-417.
• Soni, A. [Aparna], Simon, K., and Hendryx, M. (2017). Medicaid Expansion under the Affordable Care Act and Insurance Coverage in Rural and Urban Areas. Journal of Rural Health, 33(2), 217-226.
• Sommers, B., and Simon, K. (2017). Health Insurance and Emergency Department Use — A Complex Relationship. New England Journal of Medicine, 376, 1708-1711.
• Abraham, J., Drake, C., Sacks, D., and Simon, K. (2017). Demand for Health Insurance Marketplace Plans Was Highly Elastic in 2014-2015. Economics Letters, 159, 69-73.
• Freedman, S., Nikpay, S., Carroll, A., and Simon, K. (2017). Changes in inpatient payer-mix and hospitalizations following Medicaid expansion: Evidence from all-capture hospital discharge data. PLOSOne, 12(9).
• Akosa Antwi, Y., Moriya, A., and Simon, K. (2015). Access to Health Insurance and the Use of Inpatient Medical Care: Evidence from the Affordable Care Act Young Adult Mandate. Journal of Health Economics, 39, 171-187.
• Akosa Antwi, Y., Moriya, A., Simon, K., and Sommers, B. (2015). Changes in Emergency Department Use among Young Adults after the ACA’s Dependent Coverage Provision. Annals of Emergency Medicine, 65(6), 664–672.
• Dave, D., Decker, S., Kaestner, R., and Simon, K. (2015). The Effect of Medicaid Expansions on the Labor Supply of Pregnant Women. American Journal of Health Economics, 1(2), 165-193.