We welcomed Assistant Professor Stuart Craig to our Risk & Insurance Department this previous summer, and we are thrilled to finally introduce him to you. His focus of study, which affects us all, is the cause and consequence of rising healthcare spending in the U.S. Much of his work focuses on competition and how prices are set in business-to-business negotiations — for example, how hospitals and insurers negotiate over the price of a medical bill. Before joining us, he completed a B.S. from Cornell University, Ph.D. from The Wharton School at University of Pennsylvania, and postdoctoral work at Tobin Center for Economic Policy at Yale University.
During our conversation it was interesting to learn more about his research, and I appreciated his enthusiasm and the thoroughness of his explanations. For one study, Stuart and his colleagues used insurance claims data to study variation in health spending and prices for privately insured health care. They found that market structure (i.e. concentration in geographic area), and in particular consolidation through mergers between hospitals, tend to be associated with higher prices and more favorable contracts for hospitals. In 2015, this study was covered in The New York Times, and I found it to be interesting reading and excellent information for a recent family discussion. Stuart and his colleagues’ studies also examine such questions as under what conditions would a public option be attractive to employer-groups in the article “Is There Too Little Antitrust Enforcement in the U.S. Hospital Sector?” You will find these research papers and others at Stuart’s website, with numerous links to academic journals and mainstream publications.
“My interest in economics began in high school and grew into a professional ambition in college, when I took a class on labor economics. I was excited because I had a realization that it wasn’t just a math class, but that economics provided a powerful tool for understanding what people value and how they make decisions,” explained Stuart. After college, he worked on research studying how people interact with welfare programs, which eventually led to his passion for studying markets in the health care industry. “One reason for my interest and passion is that the research I do can impact decision making. In health care, it isn’t necessarily a partisan position to support policy making that helps people, and this is not always the case with some issues that may be more hotly contested,” shared Stuart.
This fall, Stuart will be teaching Operations and Technology Management (OTM) 732, “Economics for Managers,” a core course in the MBA program. “What I love about this class is that MBA students typically have quite a bit of experience already, which means that we can have rich conversations about how even basic economic principles help us understand complex real-world applications,” said Stuart. In addition, he looks forward this fall to working with PhD students who will be assisting him on his research.
When he is not working, Stuart is busy exploring Madison. “I live just south of campus and have been enjoying lots of afternoon walks along Lake Monona. I’m also impressed with the music scene in Madison. I’ve already been to a couple of great shows at the Majestic Theatre, and I’m excited to explore more,” shared Stuart. Even with his busy schedule, he is looking forward to finding some free time to practice his guitar, which he has been playing since he was 10 years old.
It was interesting to discuss health economics with Stuart, and he is excited to meet more students, faculty, and staff in the coming months. Personally, I am looking forward to our next department gathering where I can endlessly quiz him about his years of sabre fencing and having competed in the 1996 Junior Olympic Championship.
Stuart may be reached at svcraig@wisc.edu.