Faculty & Staff Directory

Alan Sager

Professor, Health Policy & Management
Health Policy & Management

Massachusetts Institute of Technology, PhD

Office	Talbot, T344W
Phone	(617) 638-4664
Email

Biography

Alan Sager specialized in health in graduate school because it looked like the easiest sector in which to win affordable equity for all Americans--since so much money was already spent on medical care. (Not easy--but easier than anything else.)

His main interests are health reform, combining universal coverage with cost control, improving both finance and delivery, and preserving needed physician, hospital, and long-term care services.

He has studied causes and effects of urban hospital closings, finding a strong and persistent link between race of the people living near a hospital and the probability of closing. Hospital efficiency doesn't predict survival.

He has investigated the sources of high health costs in Massachusetts and designed methods to cover all uninsured residents without increasing spending.

He has studied causes of high U.S. pharmaceutical prices and designed a "prescription drug peace treaty" that fully covers all Americans at a small added cost, while protecting and energizing drug makers' innovative research. He predicted that the 2003 Medicare drug benefit would raise drug makers' profits by one-third because it boosted their sales but failed to constrain prices meaningfully.

Alan designed a "time banking" method of mobilizing voluntary help for people with disabilities. By creating a market for good deeds, it allows volunteers to help others when convenient. Time would be banked. Former volunteers who themselves needed help could trade their banked time for help from a new volunteer.

Alan holds a B.A. in economics from Brandeis and a Ph.D. in city and regional planning (specializing in health care) from MIT.

Courses Taught in Other Semesters

In the Media

Providence Journal
Barbara Shelly: Rating Texas vs. Mass. in Health Care -- references Alan Sager, professor of health policy & management
WNYC
Fed Dollars for NY Hospitals Occasionally Go to Wrong Hospitals -- quotes Alan Sager, professor of health policy & management
Kansas City Star
Opinion: In Perry's America, Life Would be a Ponzi Scheme -- references Alan Sager, professor of health policty & management
New England Post
Is the Current Healthcare System Driving the Nation to Economic Collapse? -- quotes Alan Sager, professor of health policy and management.

Stories

Publications

1.	Alan Sager. Hospital Closings: Causes, Consequences, and Responses. Boston Occupier. 2012.
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2.	Alan Sager. Paying New York State Hospitals More Fairly for Their Care to Uninsured Patients. New York, New York: A Report to the Commission on the Publicâ€™s Health System. 2011; 168 pages.
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3.	Alan Sager and Deborah Socolar. Massachusetts Hospital Spending Reached 55.4 per Person above the U.S. Average in 2007: Most of Excess Is Unjustified and State's Health Reform Law Is Neglible. 2010; 211 pages.
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4.	Alan Sager. Why Stabilizing St. Vincent's Is Essential. The Villager. 2010; 1.
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5.	Alan Sager and Deborah Socolar. This Yearâ€™s $72 Billion in Health Spending in Massachusetts Is Enough to Finance the Care that Works: Proposals to Simply Bundle Payments to Hospitals and Doctors for Individual Episodes of Care, While Reasonable and Well-intentioned, Are Not Likely to Contain Costs. 2009.
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6.	Alan Sager and Deborah Socolar. Make Doctors Agents of Health Care Cost Controls. Boston Globe op-ed. 2008; 1.
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7.	Alan Sager and Deborah Socolar. Mass. Mess: Mandates Ensure Everyone Is Covered--Inadequately. 2007.
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8.	Alan Sager and Deborah Socolar. Seeking a Cure for Health Care: New York State Needs to Cut Waste, Not Close Hospitals. 2007.
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9.	Sager A. Facing the long-term care crisis: lessons from Robert Morris' innovations. J Aging Soc Policy. 2007; 19(3):119-24.
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10.	Alan Sager. Closing Hospitals in New York State Won't Save Money but Will Harm Access to Care. Boston:Health Reform Program. 2006; 53 pages.
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11.	Alan Sager and Deborah Socolar. Massachusetts Health Sepnding Soars to $62.1 Billion in 2006: Spending Here Is World's Highest--33% per Person above U.S.A. Average, an Unprecedented Excess. 2006; 87 pages.
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12.	Alan Sager. Drug Cost Law Should Be Enforced. Charleston (W. Va.) Gazette. 2006; 1.
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13.	Alan Sager and Deborah Socolar. Health Care for All Requires Cost Control. Boston:Health Reform Program. 2006; 74 pages.
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14.	Alan Sager and Deborah Socolar. Health Care Myths and Realities. Boston Globe. 2005.
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15.	Alan Sager and Deborah Socolar. , "$1 Billion per Week Is Enough: Recycling the Half Health Care Spending New Wasted--Not Cutting Benefits or Rationing by Ability to Pay--Is Key to Financing High Quality Affordable Care for All,". A Report Submitted as Testimony on S. 755, An Act to Establish the Massachusetts Health Care Trust, Joint Committee on Health Care Financing, Massachusetts General Court. 2005; 72 pages.
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16.	Alan Sager and Deborah Socolar. Why Are Massachusetts Health Care Costs Soaring, and Can Anything Be Done about It?. 2005.
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17.	Alan Sager and Deborah Socolar. Health Crisis Index Rose 37 Percent, 1987 - 2003: High Spending Associated with Growth in Uninsured Share of Americans. Health Reform Program Data Brief No. 9. 2005; 14 pages.
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18.	Alan Sager and Deborah Socolar. Shooting at the Wrong Target. Tom Paine. 2005.
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19.	Alan Sager and Deborah Socolar. Health Costs Absorb One-quarter of Economic Growth, 2000 - 2005: Recent Federal Report Unintentionally Obscures Massive Rise; Physicians' Decisions Key to Controlling Cost. 2005; 56 pages.
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20.	Alan Sager. Report to the Princeton Health Care Task Force on the University Medical Center at Princeton's Capital Needs and Location Options. 2005; 31 pages.
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21.	Alan Sager. Winning Durably Affordable Innovative Drugs: A Few Lessons from the Arguments over Importing Drugs from Canada. Connecticut Journal of International Law. 2005; 20(2):257-265.
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22.	Alan Sager and Deborah Socolar. Poorer, Sicker States Face Heavier Drug Cost Burdens: Rising Burdens Mean Pressure for Action Likely to Grow. Boston:Health Reform Program. 2004; 52 pages.
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23.	Alan Sager and Deborah Socolar. Do Drug Makers Lose Money on Canadian Imports?. Boston:Health Reform Program. 2004; 20 pages.
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24.	Alan Sager and Deborah Socolar. 61 Percent of Medicare's New Prescription Drug Subsidy Is Windfall Profit to Drug Makers. Boston:Health Reform Program. 2003; 21 pages.
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25.	Alan Sager and Deborah Socolar. Huge Sums of Money Are Stolen from What We Spend to Delay Death, Treat Pain, and Overcome Disability. Newsday. 2003.
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26.	Alan Sager and Deborah Socolar. Lower Prescription Drug Prices Are Vital to Both Patients and Drug Makersâ€”But Instead, U.S. Prices Have Been Rising Rapidly Relative to Those in Other Wealthy Nations. Boston:Health Reform Program. 2003; 10 pages.
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27.	Verna B. McKenna, Alan Sager, Julia E. Gunn, Pat Tormey, and M. Anita Barry. Immunization Registries: Costs and Savings. Public Health Reports. 2003; 117:386-392.
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28.	Alan Sager. Rodde et al. v. Bonta et al. The Proposed Closing of Rancho Los Amigos National Rehabilitation Center Endangers the Health of Disabled Medi-Cal Patients Who Reside in Los Angeles County. 2003; 41 pages.
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29.	Alan Sager, Deborah Socolar, Robert Brand, and David Ford. Rhode Island Can Afford Health Care for All: Covering Everyone Comprehensively without Spending More--A Report to the Rhode Island Legislature. 2002; 57 pages.
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30.	Alan Sager and Deborah Socolar. Crashing through the Windshield: Health Care Will Consume 18 Percent of Personal Income in 2002. 2002.
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31.	Alan Sager. Crafting an Affordable Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit: Lessons from the Veterans Administration Experience. 2002.
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32.	Alan Sager and Deborah Socolar. Too Many Local Hospitals on Life Support: With Number of Beds Halved since 1980, State Should Alter Its Closings Policy. 2002.
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33.	Alan Sager. Minority Report to the Massachusetts Health Care Task Force. 2002.
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34.	Sager A, Socolar D. Do Rx drugs cost too much? The market needs a peace treaty. Bus Health. 1997 Oct; 15(10):51, 53.
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35.	Sager A. What we've learned about containing health care costs. Health PAC Bull. 1993; 23(2):41-3.
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36.	Socolar D, Sager A, Hiam P. Competing to death: California's high-risk system. J Am Health Policy. 1992 Mar-Apr; 2(2):45-50.
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37.	Sager A, Socolar D, Hiam P. Lessons from the failure of Massachusetts' 1988 Universal Health Insurance Law. J Aging Soc Policy. 1992; 4(1-2):9-15.
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38.	Glotzer D, Sager A, Socolar D, Weitzman M. Prior approval in the pediatric emergency room. Pediatrics. 1991 Oct; 88(4):674-80.
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39.	Sager A. Prices of equitable access: the new Massachusetts health insurance law. Hastings Cent Rep. 1988 Jun-Jul; 18(3):21-5.
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Tue 5.28	Faculty Senate Meeting
	Doctoral Dissertation Defense: Jennifer Rosemary Capell (DrPH/IH)
Wed 5.29	Come Help Biostatistics Department Assess Applicants for Clinical Faculty Position
	Practicum Workshop: How to Work in Teams