Uwe Reinhardt | |
|---|---|
_(cropped).jpg) | |
| Born | September 24, 1937 Osnabrück, Germany |
| Died | November 14, 2017(2017-11-14) (aged 80) Princeton, New Jersey, United States |
| Scientific career | |
| Doctoral advisor | Richard Ruggles[1] |
Uwe Ernst Reinhardt (September 24, 1937 – November 14, 2017) was aprofessor ofpolitical economy atPrinceton University and held several positions in the healthcare industry.[2][3] Reinhardt was a prominent scholar inhealth care economics and a frequent speaker and author on subjects ranging from the war inIraq[4][5] to the future ofMedicare.
Reinhardt was born 1937 inOsnabrück, Germany, and later emigrated to Canada, where he received hisBachelor of Commerce degree fromUniversity of Saskatchewan.[6] He later received aPh.D. ineconomics fromYale University[6] in 1970, with a thesis titled "An Economic Analysis of Physicians' Practices" under the supervision ofRichard Ruggles.[1] He taught courses ineconomic theory andpolicy,accounting, andhealth economics andpolicy. Reinhardt's scholarly work focused on economics and policy and included more far-reaching topics such ascost–benefit analyses of theLockheed L-1011 TriStar[7] and theSpace Shuttle.[citation needed] He died of sepsis on November 14, 2017, in Princeton, NJ.[2] Reinhardt was married to Tsung-Mei Cheng,[8][9] also known as May Reinhardt.[10]
In July 2015, Reinhardt's 2013 syllabus and first lecture for a class titled "Introductory Korean Drama" received attention from several bloggers.[11] By way of explanation, Reinhardt introduced the class by stating:
After the near‐collapse of the world's financial system has shown that we economists really do not know how the world works, I am much too embarrassed to teach economics anymore, which I have done for many years. I will teach Modern Korean Drama instead. Although I have never been to Korea, I have watched Korean drama on a daily basis for over six years now. Therefore I can justly consider myself an expert in that subject.[12]
It was not clear whether Reinhardt actually intended to teach the course.
 | This sectionneeds additional citations forverification. Please helpimprove this article byadding citations to reliable sources in this section. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.(July 2017) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
Reinhardt's research focused onhospital pricing, systems of health care around the world,Medicare reform, andhealth care spending. His work appeared inHealth Affairs,The New England Journal of Medicine,JAMA,The British Medical Journal, andTheEuropean Heart Journal.[13]
In one paper, Reinhardt discusses the obstacles to success ofconsumer-directed health care in light of the lack of transparency inhospital pricing. He suggests several reforms that could lead to better information onhospital pricing for consumer decision-making, including a national set ofdiagnosis-related group weights to which each hospital could then apply its own conversion factor. Reinhardt's previous work on hospitals examined thetax andcost of equity capital advantages ofnot-for-profit hospitals overfor-profit hospitals.[citation needed]
Reinhardt's scholarship analyzed the U.S.health care industry in relation to systems around the world. He argued that higher U.S. health spending is a result of higher U.S. per capita gross domestic product (GDP) as well as intricate and disjointed payment systems. Reinhardt's work on foreignsystems of health care includes a 2004 analysis ofSwitzerland that appeared inJAMA.[14] In it, Reinhardt argued that there is little correlation between the prevalence ofconsumer choice and the high quality of Swisshealth care.[14]
In 2003, Reinhardt and 14 other experts on health policy and the private health care industry signed an open letter arguing thatMedicare should lead the U.S. health care industry inpaying for performance by tying financial reimbursement to quality measures.[15]
Reinhardt's work onhealth care spending includes his argument that the aging of the U.S. population is not the primary cause of the growth in U.S. health care spending.[15]
In addition to his university duties, Reinhardt was active as an advisor for government, non-profit organizations, and private industry and held directorships in various for-profit companies in the health industry. Reinhardt served on the Governing Council of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences between 1979 and 1982, after election to the Institute in 1978.[16] At the Institute, he served on a number of study panels, including the Committee on the Implications of For-Profit Medicine, the Committee on Technical Innovation in Medicine, the Committee on the Implications of a Physicians Surplus, and the Committee on the U.S. Physician Supply. In 1996, he was appointed to the Board of Health Care services of the Institute.
From 1986-1995, Reinhardt served three consecutive three-year terms as a Commissioner on the Physician Payment Review Commission (PPRC), established in 1986 by the Congress to advise it on issues related to the payment of physicians. Reinhardt served as a Commissioner for theKaiser Family Foundation Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured.[17] Reinhardt was a member of numerous editorial boards, among themThe New England Journal of Medicine,JAMA, The Journal of Health Economics, the Milbank Quarterly, and Health Affairs.
Reinhardt served as a trustee ofDuke University and the Tekla Family of Funds.[6] He also served on the Boards of Directors ofBoston Scientific Corporation,[6] a leading maker of medical devices, andAmerigroup Corporation, a large health insurer whose clients consist primarily of persons enrolled in Medicare. He served on the Board of Directors ofTriad Hospitals, Inc, until that company was merged intoCommunity Health Systems in 2007. He was a regular contributor to theNew York Times' Economix blog, where he wrote about economic matters, particularly the economics of health care.[6]
In 1989, asTaiwan was restructuring its healthcare system, Reinhardt persuaded its leaders to model it on those ofCanada andGermany.[citation needed] As of 2014,Taiwan's system provides universal care for 6.6% ofGDP. For his contribution, in 2014 he was awarded the nation's Presidential Prize.[18][19] In 2018, Reinhardt was posthumously awarded the First Grade Medal for Professionalism in Health and Welfare by Taiwan'sMinistry of Health and Welfare.[20][21]
![[icon]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=https%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aWiki_letter_w_cropped.svg) | This sectionneeds expansion. You can help byadding to it.(August 2011) |
In the 2009Frontline show "Sick Around America", Reinhardt criticized the United States for spending 24% of every health care dollar onadministration, and pointed out that Canada spends less than half of the U.S. amount and Taiwan spends significantly less than Canada.[22] Reinhardt faulted the seeming U.S. preference for an unwieldy "mishmash of private insurance plans" for the inefficiency.[22] He said if the U.S. could spend half as much on administration, it would save more than enough money to cover all the uninsured.
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Other | |
