Melissa McInerney

Melissa McInerney serves as Professor of Economics and Professor of Community Health at Tufts University's School of Arts and Sciences. Her academic appointments span both the Department of Economics and Community Health, reflecting her interdisciplinary research focus at the intersection of economic policy and health outcomes. She has established herself as a leading researcher examining Medicare, Medicaid, and broader social policy questions through rigorous economic analysis.

Education:

• PhD in Economics, University of Maryland, College Park (2008)
• MPP in Education, Social, and Family Policy, Georgetown Public Policy Institute (2002)
• BA in Mathematics, Carleton College (1998)

Professor McInerney's research focuses on Public Economics, Health Economics, Labor Economics, and Applied Microeconomics, with particular emphasis on Medicare and Medicaid policy. Her work examines critical social policy questions including how insurance affects healthcare utilization among seniors, the impact of Medicaid expansion on dual Medicare-Medicaid beneficiaries, racial disparities in healthcare access, and workplace safety issues. She employs sophisticated econometric methods to analyze large datasets including Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey, Health and Retirement Study, and administrative records.

Her publication record reveals a consistent focus on policy-relevant research with significant implications for vulnerable populations, particularly seniors and low-income individuals. The trajectory of her work demonstrates increasing sophistication in data linkage methods and growing attention to health disparities by race and ethnicity. Her most recent publications address contemporary issues including the impact of the Affordable Care Act, Medicare-Medicaid dual eligibility, and the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on vulnerable seniors.

Professor McInerney has secured substantial research funding from prestigious institutions including the National Institute on Aging, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Russell Sage Foundation, the United States Department of Labor, the W.E. Upjohn Institute for Labor Research, and the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College.

As an active member of the academic community, she serves as a Research Associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research and participates in numerous professional committees. Her teaching portfolio includes undergraduate courses in Labor Economics, Econometrics, Public Economics, and Principles of Microeconomics, as well as graduate courses for the Master of Public Policy program.