Paul Shafer is an associate professor of health law, policy, and management and co-director of the Medicaid Policy Lab at the Boston University School of Public Health. His research focuses on how health insurance and social safety net policies affect health and equity. As a health economist, he is passionate about generating rigorous, timely, and policy-relevant research to ease administrative burdens, reduce economic deprivation, and improve health. He is also an investigator with the Partnered Evidence-Based Policy Resource Center at the VA Boston Healthcare System where he leads evaluations of policies and delivery innovations aimed at improving veterans access to care and health.
He is an editorial board member for Health Services Research and editorial fellow for Health Affairs Scholar. His research has been funded by the National Institutes of Health, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Commonwealth Fund, and Arnold Ventures among others. His work has been cited by former President Biden, White House, Congress, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Surgeon General, US Preventive Services Task Force, and National Academies along with major news outlets, including the New York Times, Washington Post, NPR, CNN, NBC News, and The Atlantic.
Previously, he served as a research economist at RTI International, junior fellow at the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, and research fellow at the Office of Personnel Management. He holds a BA and PhD from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and an MA from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.