Our Faculty

Michael S. Sparer, PhD, JD, studies and writes about the politics of health care, with a particular emphasis on the health insurance and health delivery systems for low-income populations, and the ways in which inter-governmental relations influences policy, both in the U.S. and abroad. His current projects include a review and analysis of lessons learned from thirty years of Medicaid managed care programs, a book funded by the RWJ Investigator Program, which examines how American Federalism influenced the politics and substance of the recently enacted Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, and a comparison of inter-governmental health politics in the U.S. and the UK. He is a two-time winner of the Mailman School?s Student Government Association Teacher of the Year Award, as well as the recipient of a 2010 Columbia University Presidential Award for Outstanding Teaching. Professor Sparer spent seven years as a litigator for the New York City Law Department, specializing in inter-governmental social welfare litigation. After leaving the practice of law, he obtained a PhD in Political Science from Brandeis University. Professor Sparer is the former editor of the Journal of Health Politics, Policy and Law, and the author of Medicaid and the Limits of State Health Reform, as well as numerous articles and book chapters.

PhD, Brandeis University, 1992

JD, Rutgers University School of Law (Newark), 1980

Additional Affiliations:

• Member, National Advisory Committee, RWJ Synthesis Program
• Editor, Journal of Health Politics, Policy and Law
• Member, National Academy of Social Insurance
• Member, Glenda Garvey Teaching Academy

• RWJ Health Policy Investigator Award, 2003

Selected Editorial Boards

• Journal of Health Politics, Policy and Law