Dr. Meara is a professor of health economics and policy in the Department of Health Policy and Management at Harvard’s TH Chan School of Public Health, a research associate of the National Bureau of Economic Research, and a member of the National Academy of Medicine. After spending a decade on the faculty at Harvard Medical School, and a decade at Dartmouth’s Geisel School of Medicine, she joined the Chan School in January of 2020. Dr. Meara’s research spans a wide range of subjects in the economics of health and medical care, with emphasis in three areas: determinants and consequences of participation in health and disability insurance; the role of payment and delivery reforms on health care use and outcomes; and trends in mortality and health care spending over time. Much of her recent work has been focused on how health and social policies affect the health and economic outcomes of people with mental health and substance use disorders, with recent work focused on how state policies affect opioid use, and consequences of opioid use among adults who are Medicare-eligible due to a disability. She is currently studying how features of health care systems and recent payment and delivery reforms influence care for patients with complex clinical and social needs.
