Rashi Fein

Rashi Fein
Born (1926-02-06)February 6, 1926
The Bronx, New York
Died September 8, 2014(2014-09-08) (aged 88)
Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts
Resting place Lindwood Memorial Park, 497 North Street, Randolph, MA[1]
Nationality American
Spouse(s) Ruth (Breslau) Fein
Institution Harvard Medical School
Field health economics
School or
tradition		 providential government
Alma mater Johns Hopkins University, Harvard University
Influenced Medicare, Affordable Care Act
Contributions 'a father of Medicare'; founding member, Institute of Medicine (IOM); Founding Member, National Academy of Social Insurance
Awards Traveling Fellowship, World Health Organization, 1971; John M. Russell Medal, Markle Scholars, 1971; Martin E. Rehfuss Medal and Lectureship; Johns Hopkins University Alumni Association Award, 1999; Lifetime Achievement Award "For Fearlessly Promoting the Rights of All to Health Care", Health Care, 2000; Adam Yarmolinsky Medal, Institute of Medicine, 2000; Debs-Thomas-Bernstein Awards, 2009

Rashi Fein (February 6, 1926 – September 8, 2014) was an American health economist termed 'a father of Medicare' in the United States[2] and 'an architect of Medicare',[3] was Professor of Economics of Medicine, Emeritus, in the Department of Global Health and Social Medicine at Harvard Medical School, and the author of the book Medical Care, Medical Costs: The Search for a Health Insurance Policy[4] (Harvard University Press, 1986, 1989).[5][6]

His work has included: benefit-cost analysis, health care financing, health care workforce policy, cost containment, the financing of medical education, and health care reform.

He was the brother of Leonard J. Fein, also known as Leibel Fein, an American activist, writer, who had taught political science at MIT and was Deputy Director of the Harvard–MIT Joint Center for Urban Studies, and who specialized in Jewish social themes.[7] Fein served on the Advisory Committee of the Jewish Alliance for Law and Social Action.[8] Fein died in 2014 of melanoma at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston.[9]

Education

Professional and academic career

Career

Rashi Fein began his service to the United States during World War II, in the United States Navy.[11] He spent much of his time after that thinking and writing about health care reform. He was a member of the Truman Commission on the Health Care Needs of the Nation, which as early as 1952 had supported national health insurance and regionalization of health care delivery. Later, he served on President John F. Kennedy’s Council of Economic Advisors as a senior staff member (1961-1963). There, he helped to develop the initial legislation for Medicare, a healthcare model he continued to advocate throughout his life.[12][13] Professor Fein had also served on the Board of the Committee for National Health Insurance under the leadership of former United Auto Workers President Douglas Fraser and under Walter Reuther on a Board investigating malnutrition in the United States.[14][15] He was a charter member of the Institute of Medicine (IOM), had received numerous honors for service in medical economics, and sat on boards of a number of not-for-profit health care institutions. He had authored nine books, the most recent of which was Lessons Learned: Medicine, Economics and Public Policy,[16] published in November 2009.[17]

He joined the Harvard faculty of the school of medicine and the John F. Kennedy School of Government in 1968. He also served as senior fellow in the economics program at the Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C.

His 1982 "What Is Wrong with the Language of Medicine?"[18] in the New England Journal of Medicine began:

A new language is infecting the culture of American medicine. It is the language of the marketplace, of the tradesman, and of the cost accountant. It is a language that depersonalizes both patients and physicians and describes medical care as just another commodity. It is a language that is dangerous.

He concluded that paper:

A decent medical-care system that helps all the people cannot be built without the language of equity and care. If this language is permitted to die and is completely replaced by the language of efficiency and cost control, all of us — including physicians — will lose something precious.

He served as chair of the National Advisory Committee (NAC) for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's Scholars in Health Policy Research Program from 1994 to 2002 and was its Chair Emeritus until his death. His work has included: benefit-cost analysis, health care financing, health care workforce policy, cost containment, the financing of medical education, and health care reform. His first book was Economics of Mental Illness (1958). His most recent (2010) book, Lessons Learned: Medicine, Economics and Public Policy, was built on various lessons and stories that, as Chair of the NAC, he presented over the years at the Scholars’ Annual Meeting in Aspen.

As an invited speaker, he presented his then-forthcoming 2009 book at the "Health Care Reform 2009:Politics and Paranoia" in Boston, on October 21, 2009, sponsored by the Boston Democratic Socialists of America and Mass-Care.[19]

Among colleagues, Fein was admired for his wry, often-humorous anecdotes drawn from Jewish culture and over fifty years of experience in the policy arena, which he brought together in his final book, Learning Lessons: Medicine, Economics, and Public Policy (Transaction Publishers, 2010).[20]

He also had served as a Director at Newbridge on the Charles, a senior living facility, an affiliate of the Harvard Medical School.[21][22]

Recognitions and awards

Publications

See also

References

  1. ↑ Legacy.com obituary: Rashi Fein
  2. ↑ Rashi Fein, a ‘father of Medicare,’ dies, September 9, 2014, 11:52am, in JTA
  3. ↑ Boston Globe obituary for Rashi Fein
  4. ↑ brief review of Medical Care, Medical Costs: The Search for a Health Insurance Policy
  5. ↑ Rashi Fein Faculty Profile page, Department of Global Health and Social Medicine, Harvard Medical School
  6. ↑ Listing for Rashi Fein in The International Who's Who: 1990-91, page 491, gives date of birth and full encyclopedia bibliography and CV/bio
  7. ↑ A brother’s tribute to Leonard Fein, MAZON: A Jewish Response to Hunger, October 26, 2010
  8. ↑ Rashi Fein, a ‘father of Medicare,’ dies, September 9, 2014, 11:52am, in JTA
  9. ↑ http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/14/us/rashi-fein-economist-who-urged-medicare-dies-at-88.html?ref=obituaries
  10. ↑ SUNY Honorary Degrees, Awarded and Pending, website of State University of New York, Albany
  11. ↑ "Rashi Fein" article in KeyWiki
  12. ↑ History of SSA During the Johnson Administration 1963-1968; Rashi Fein was a Members of the 1968-1969 Advisory Committee
  13. ↑ Papers of Wilbur J. Cohen, notes Rashi Fein's role as member of the Advisory Council on Research Development, which provided assistance to the Social Security Administration for its research program
  14. ↑ National Health Insurance—A Brief History of Reform Efforts in the U.S., March 2009, in Focus on Health Reform, blog of the Henry K. Kaiser Family Foundation
  15. ↑ Index of Archives of Committee for National Health Insurance Collection in the Walter P. Reuther Library of Wayne State University
  16. ↑ JAMA book review for Lessons Learned: Medicine, Economics and Public Policy
  17. ↑ Profile Page for Rashi Fein, Scholars in Health Policy Research, Robert Wood Johnson
  18. ↑ Fein, R., 1982, "What Is Wrong with the Language of Medicine?", N Engl J Med 1982; 306:863-864April 8, 1982DOI: 10.1056/NEJM198204083061409
  19. ↑ OpenMedia's review of Health Care Reform 2009: Politics and Paranoia
  20. ↑ A brother’s tribute to Leonard Fein, MAZON: A Jewish Response to Hunger, October 26, 2010
  21. ↑ Continuum of Care, Newbridge on the Charles website
  22. ↑ Trustees and Associates, Newbridge on the Charles
  23. ↑ ReachMD profile for Rashi Fein
  24. ↑ Rashi Fein profile, Publishers of Record in International Social Science
  25. ↑ Fein, R., Social and economic attitudes shaping American health policy, Milbank Quarterly, Vol. 58, No. 3, Summer, 1980
  26. ↑ List of Adam Yarmolinsky Award Recipients, IOM website
  27. ↑ TYR, June 2009
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Thursday, May 05, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.