Stuart H. Altman, Sol C. Chaikin Professor of National Health Policy at Heller Graduate School for Social Policy & Management, Brandeis University, is an economist whose research interests are primarily in the area of federal and state health policy. He was Co-Chair of the Governor/Legislative Health Care Task Force for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts from 2000-2002. In 1997, President Clinton appointed him to the National Bipartisan Commission on the Future of Medicare.
Professor Altman was Dean of The Florence Heller Graduate School from 1977 until July 1993 and interim President of Brandeis University from 1990-1991. He served as the Chairman of the Congressionally legislated Prospective Payment Assessment Commission for twelve years. ProPac was responsible for advising Congress and the Administration on the Medicare DRG Hospital Payment System and other system reforms. Professor Altman is a member of The Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences; a member of the Board of Overseers of the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, Massachusetts; and, Co Chairman of the Advisory Board to the Schneider Institute for Health Policy at the Heller Graduate School, Brandeis University.
Between 1971 and 1976, Professor Altman was Deputy Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation/Health at HEW. While serving in that position, he was one of the principal contributors to the development and advancement of the Administration’s National Health Insurance proposal. From 1973 to 1974 he also served as the Deputy Director for Health of the President’s Cost-of-Living Council where he was responsible for developing the Council’s program on health care cost containment.
Professor Altman has an M.A. and Ph.D. degree in Economics from UCLA and taught at Brown University and the Graduate School of Public Policy at University of California at Berkeley. In addition, Dr. Altman has served on the Board of The Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholars Program and on the Governing Council of The Institute of Medicine. He is the Chair of The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation sponsored Council on Health Care Economics and Policy. The Council is a private non-partisan group whose mission is to analyze important economic aspects of the U.S. health care system and evaluate proposed changes in the system.
