Miriam Laugesen Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Department of Health Policy and Management
Columbia University
Email: ml3111@columbia.edu
Discipline: Political Science, Health Policy
Investigator Award 
The Politics of Relative Values: Physicians and Medicare FeesAward Year: 2009 Two decades after Congress reformed Medicare physician payment, Medicare costs continue to rise, physicians are still paid for each service provided to each patient, and payment incentives remain skewed toward highly specialized, procedure-oriented care. Although spending for physician services exceeded annual targets from 2003 to 2010, Congress postponed nine scheduled cuts in physician fees. Clearly, Medicare's system for paying physicians needs fixing. In a project titled, The Politics of Relative Values: Physicians and Medicare Fees, Miriam J. Laugesen, Ph.D., examines why Medicare payment reforms fell short of their original objectives to contain costs and equalize payment gaps between primary care physicians and specialists. Her study will investigate the impact of the Resource-Based Relative Value Scale (RBRVS) implemented in 1992 for determining Medicare's fee schedule for physician services, including the role of physicians' participation in the scheduled reviews of the RBRVS, a largely undocumented process. Dr. Laugesen's findings will address the strengths and limitations of the process used to determine Medicare physician fee levels, as well as the future role of physicians in determining payment policies. Her project should provide policymakers with a better understanding of possible payment reforms that are technically and politically feasible and could encourage more coordinated, effective, and better-compensated primary care for Medicare beneficiaries.
Background 
Miriam Laugesen is assistant professor in the department of health policy and management at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health. Previously she taught at the University of California, Los Angeles, and was a Visiting Scholar at Harvard's Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies. Dr. Laugesen completed post-doctoral training in the RAND-UCLA Health Services Training Program and received her Ph.D. in political science from the University of Melbourne. She holds an M.A. in political science from Washington University, where she was a Fulbright scholar, and a B.A. (Hons.) from Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand in public administration and politics.
- Laugesen, M., Wada, R., Chen, E. In Setting Doctors' Medicare Fees, CMS Almost Always Accepts The Relative Value Update Panel's Advice On Work Values. Health Affairs, May 2012, 31(5): 965-972.
- Rockers, P.C., Kruk, M.E., Laugesen, M. Perception of the Health System and Public Trust in Government Evidence from the World Health Surveys. Journal of Health Politics, Policy and Law, Feb 9 2012, 37(3): 405-437.
- Laugesen, M. Civilized Medicine: Physicians and Health Care Reform. Journal of Health Politics, Policy and Law, 2011, 36(3): 507-512.
- Laugesen, M., Glied, S. Higher Fees Paid to US Physicians Drive Higher Spending for Physician Services Compared to Other Countries. Health Affairs, Sep 2011, 30(9): 1647-1656.