Gretchen Jacobson

Gretchen Jacobson, Ph.D., is the vice president of Medicare, Expanding Coverage and Access at the Commonwealth Fund. In this role, she is responsible for developing strategy and program plans for Medicare initiatives, overseeing analyses and projects pertaining to Medicare, understanding and maintaining a view of developments and policy initiatives within the Medicare program, as well as identifying and working with prospective grantees to improve project design on the development of new projects. Prior to joining the Fund, Jacobson was associate director of the Program on Medicare Policy at the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. Her research and knowledge have made her a nationally recognized expert in the field. Her work has appeared in the New England Journal of Medicine, JAMA, Health Affairs, and other peer-reviewed journals. She has provided expert testimony before Congress and is frequently quoted as an expert by national and local media outlets. Prior to joining KFF, she was an analyst in health care financing at the Congressional Research Service, serving as an expert resource for Congress. She also previously held positions where she directed research on the market value of pharmaceuticals, medical devices, and health insurance. Jacobson earned a Ph.D. in health economics from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, an S.M. in epidemiology from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, and a B.A. in economics from Tufts University. She holds an affiliate faculty position at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health where she co-teaches a class on Managed Care in the United States.