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Health Care Affordability Lab at Yale University launched as a new resource for policymakers addressing the crisis in health care costs
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March 9, 2026
Contact
Delaney Parrish
Director of Strategic Communications and Outreach
Tobin Center for Economic Policy
delaney.parrish@yale.edu
New Haven, CT — Building on its longstanding commitment to creating a stronger, safer, healthier America through research, Yale University today launched an innovative initiative that pairs rigorous academic scholarship with strategic policy engagement to curb rising health care spending at every level of government.
To mark its launch, the new Health Care Affordability Lab released a hospital markets data visualization tool to help regulators track hospital consolidation in all 50 states over time, as well as a “Just The Facts” memo on Medicare Advantage to provide essential information for policymakers weighing changes to the program.
“The Health Care Affordability Lab is a bridge between academic scholars and policymakers seeking to slow spending growth without harming quality,” said Zack Cooper, director of the new Lab and an Associate Professor at the Yale School of Public Health and in the Department of Economics.
“To make this happen, we need to do two things at once: Generate world-class research rooted in academic rigor and transparent methods, and translate and deliver that research to policymakers through communication, engagement, and the development of practical tools that can aid informed decision-making.”
The new Health Care Affordability Lab will be based within Yale’s Tobin Center for Economic Policy.
“The Tobin Center's mission is to translate non-partisan economics research into policies that create positive change in people’s lives,” said Tobin Center Faculty Director Steve Berry. “The team at the Health Care Affordability Lab is extremely passionate about delivering real-world results, and we are excited to see the impact of their efforts in the years ahead.”
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Find the latest research and tools on the lab’s website.
Rising health care spending is killing the American dream
In the US, nearly 1 of every 5 dollars in the economy is spent on health care. In addition to being an enormous sector of the economy, the US health system is a key driver of economic anxiety for huge swathes of the American public. Right now, average insurance premiums for a family of four are approaching $27,000 a year, pricing millions out of coverage. In 2024, 31 million Americans reported having to borrow because of a health care bill.
The way we pay for health care is not only the reason prices keep climbing, it’s also a big driver of rising inequality. In plain terms: Rising health care spending is killing the American Dream.
“American families are struggling under the weight of ever-rising health care costs,” Yale School of Public Health Dean Megan Ranney said. “Finding a way to reduce those costs, while also protecting health care quality, is amongst our most important societal challenges. I’ve seen first-hand how committed Zack and his team are to working alongside policymakers to make that happen.”
“We actually know a lot about what we can do to bring down health care costs and provide families with relief,” Cooper said. “Where we’ve come up short is our ability to communicate what we know to those who can use the information to fix the system.”
Addressing the need to reduce health care spending, the lab has gathered nearly twenty evidence-based proposals through its 1% Steps Project that, if enacted together, could tamp out waste and significantly reduce health care spending without sacrificing quality.
“Zack and his team are addressing the first-order problem in health economics, which is how to provide quality, affordable healthcare to everyone,” said Janet Currie, David Swensen Professor of Economics at Yale and a leading health economist. “It’s an example of using first-rate scholarship to find feasible solutions that can be implemented in the real world.”
A deep bench of policy expertise
To turn research into action, the lab has hired seasoned policy staff with decades of experience in public service.
“We want to be a resource to policymakers, so we built a team of people with that experience,” said Cooper of the lab’s growing team.
Andrea Harris, former chief of staff to a Member of Congress and Senate aide, will serve as the lab’s Managing Director. In addition to her time on Capitol Hill, Andrea served as Chief of Staff to two Assistant Secretaries in the US Department of Health and Human Services.
Elizabeth Jurinka, a 20-plus year veteran of Washington's health policy community, is the lab's top policy fellow. Jurinka served in the White House as special assistant for legislative affairs, and before that was the chief health care adviser to a US Senator and the Senate Finance Committee.
Christina Ramsay, a former legislative assistant to a US Senator, will serve as the lab’s Director of Policy Engagement and Analytics. Ramsay was most recently a program officer at the Commonwealth Fund.
Timely resources from the Health Care Affordability Lab
Today, the lab announced several new resources to help policymakers turn evidence into action.
A brand new tool for understanding hospital consolidation in your community
One major and underappreciated factor driving this spending and price growth is market consolidation among US hospitals. As a result of this consolidation, health care prices have gone up, while middle-income workers outside the health care sector have lost their jobs and suffered worsening health effects.
Explore the data interactive
See all 50 states ranked by hospital consolidation
Just published: “Just the Facts” memo on Medicare Advantage research
Health policy debates are crowded with conflicting studies, technical jargon, and industry spin. That’s why the Health Care Affordability Lab at Yale produces Just the Facts memos — clear, concise syntheses of what the most credible research says about the most pressing policy questions.
The lab’s latest memo addresses some of the biggest questions in federal health policy right now: Does Medicare Advantage lower health care spending, lower federal spending, and benefit Medicare beneficiaries?
Read our new memo on Medicare Advantage
The 1% Steps for Health Care Reform project outlines practical, evidence-based ideas that can reduce spending without sacrificing quality of care.
No single reform will solve affordability on its own—but together these incremental changes add up to big savings.
Read about 16 reforms to reduce spending without sacrificing quality
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