Robert A. Berenson joined Urban in 2003 and is now an Institute Fellow. In this position he conducts policy research and analysis on health care delivery issues, particularly related to Medicare
payment policy, pricing power in commercial insurance markets, performance measurement, and primary care practice reform. In 2012, Berenson completed a term on the Medicare Payment Advisory
Commission, the last two years as vice chair. In the last three years of the Clinton Administration, he was in charge of Medicare payment policy and private health plan contracting in the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Previously, he served as an assistant director of the Carter White House Domestic Policy Staff. Berenson is a board- certified internist who practiced for 20 years. He helped organize and manage a preferred provider organization serving the Washington, DC area. He is coauthor of The Managed Care Blues & How to Cure Them with Walter Zelman, and Medicare Payment Policy and the Shaping of U.S. Health Care, with Rick Mayes. He is a graduate of the Mount Sinai School of Medicine and a fellow of the American College of Physicians.