Health Economist

The Congressional Budget Office is a small nonpartisan agency that provides economic, policy, and budgetary analysis to the Congress. CBO’s Health Analysis Division seeks a health economist who is interested in federal programs—with special consideration given to expertise in prevention and public health or in behavioral health, including experience conducting analyses and modeling in those areas. The economist will work closely with other members of CBO’s staff and will interact with a large network of academic and industry specialists to prepare studies, testimony, and other information for the Congress.

Recent analytical work completed by the division has covered such topics as health insurance coverage for the nonelderly, Medicaid’s exclusion of payments for residents of institutions for mental diseases, the effects of changes in manufacturers’ future revenues on prescription drug development, the budgetary and coverage effects of lowering the age of eligibility for Medicare, the costs of illustrative single-payer systems, the uninsured population, projections of federal health care spending, and how a public option offered in nongroup health insurance markets might be designed. Ongoing work includes studies on a broad range of topics, including preventive health services, mental health, the development of new medical technologies, and factors affecting the prices and availability of medical services and the demand for those services.

The health economist in this role will produce research reports about issues affecting the federal government and will help to develop new studies and to design and improve the analytical models used in CBO’s analyses and its estimates of the costs of proposed legislation. One topic of particular interest to the agency is the impact of prevention and public health policies on health and budgetary outcomes in the long term. Another topic of interest is policies related to behavioral health, including those affecting the mental health care workforce and access to mental health care, and the budgetary outcomes of those policies. The economist will also collaborate with analysts in CBO’s Budget Analysis Division to develop cost estimates for legislation and baseline estimates of the costs of government programs. Furthermore, CBO’s economists have opportunities to publish the agency’s research and their own research in CBO working papers and through submissions to academic journals.

Qualifications

Applicants must have either a Ph.D. in economics, health economics, or a related discipline, or a master’s degree in one of those fields and at least three years of work experience. In addition, applicants should have strong quantitative skills, facility using large data sets, an in-depth knowledge of at least one programming language, and an interest in the development of policy-relevant models. Applicants should be able to initiate and complete research projects both independently and with a team, have the skills to clearly present their work orally and in writing to nontechnical audiences, and want to work on issues of current or potential legislative interest to the Congress. People who are not citizens of the United States should review CBO’s citizenship requirements or contact careers@cbo.gov for assistance in determining eligibility.

Salary and Benefits

Salaries at CBO are competitive and commensurate with experience, education, and other qualifications. CBO offers excellent benefits and a collegial, respectful work environment.

How to Apply

Please submit a cover letter, a résumé, a brief writing sample, and contact information for three references at www.cbo.gov/careers. Ph.D. candidates and recent graduates should submit an unofficial copy of their academic transcript and have letters of recommendation sent to careers@cbo.gov in place of references. 

To ensure consideration, apply by April 22, 2024. Only complete applications will be considered. This position is governed by the Veterans Employment Opportunities Act, as made applicable by the Congressional Accountability Act, as amended.