Health Economics and Financing

About Michael S. KobernickThomas E. Getzen

Thomas E. Getzen is Emeritus Professor of Risk Insurance and Health Management at Temple University and the founder and emeritus Executive Director of iHEA the International Health Economics Association. After receiving an undergraduate degree in literature from Yale University he worked for the U.S. Public Health Service Centers for Disease Control venereal disease program in New York and Los Angeles and then obtained a Master of Health Administration degree in Medical Care Organization and a Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Washington. Dr. Getzen's main research contributions have been in the areas of contracting price indexes the history of health care spending and forecasting future trends. His consulting work has included employee benefit negotiations projections of health care cost trends and premiums risk assessment and capital financing for managed care. Dr. Getzen has been a visiting professor at the University of Toronto the Center for Health and Wellbeing at Princeton University the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and the University of York (UK). He has served on the boards of multiple health care organizations was associate editor for the journal Health Economics and editor-in-chief for the HEN-Health Economics Network in collaboration with SSRN. Professor Getzen periodically updates the forecasting model of Long Run Medical Cost Trends for the Society of Actuaries. Michael Kobernick is a lecturer at Jefferson College of Population Health an Adjunct Assistant Professor at Madonna University and a Senior Medical Director at Blue Cross of Michigan. Dr. Kobernick was raised in Detroit and completed his undergraduate medical education and Family Practice Residency at Michigan State University. His clinical career has included family practice and 30 years as an emergency physician fields in which he is board certified as well. Dr. Kobernick has master's degrees in health care administration and population health. He has held numerous administrative positions including emergency department medical director vice-president medical affairs community health service medical director and chief medical officer. At Blue Cross he is a consultant to large employers helping them to understand the opportunities to improve quality-outcome and optimize patient experience at the lowest possible cost through the application of population health principles.