Robert A. Berenson, MD

Institute Fellow
The Urban Institute

Robert A. Berenson is an Institute Fellow at the Urban Institute in Washington, D.C. He is an expert in health care policy, particularly Medicare, with experience practicing medicine, serving in senior positions in two administrations, and helping organize and manage a successful preferred provider organization. His primary research and policy interests currently are in the areas of payment and delivery system reform, market concentration, and performance measurement. Dr. Berenson serves on the Physician-Focused Payment Model Technical Advisory Committee, established by the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015. In 2012, he completed service on the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission, including two years as Vice- Chair. From 1998-2000, he was in charge of Medicare payment policy and private health plan contracting in the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Previously, he served on the Carter White House Domestic Policy Staff. Dr. Berenson is a board-certified internist who practiced for twenty years, the last twelve in a Washington, D.C. group practice, and while practicing helped organize and manage a successful PPO serving the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. Dr. Berenson received a bachelor’s degree from Brandeis University and a medical degree from the Mount Sinai School of Medicine. He is a fellow of the American College of Physicians and is on the adjunct faculty of the George Washington University School of Public Health.