About

Christopher M. Whaley is an Associate Professor in the Department of Health Services, Policy and Practice at the Brown University School of Public Health. He serves as the Associate Director of the Center for Advancing Health Policy through Research. Dr. Whaley received his PhD in Health Economics from the University of California, Berkeley, and his undergraduate degree from the University of Chicago. His research focuses on health care price transparency and market structure, and his work has been published in clinical, health policy, and economics journals. His research has garnered coverage in prominent media outlets such as the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, and CNN. He has also presented his research findings to various state and federal policymakers, including the US Congress, California State Assembly, Texas House Select Committee on Health Care Reform, the Executive Office of the President, the Congressional Budget Office, and the Federal Trade Commission.

Research topics

• Medicine
• Computer Science
• Information Retrieval
• Medical emergency
• Virology
• Political Science
• Family medicine
• Nursing
• Demography
• Gerontology
• Economic growth
• Internal medicine
• Data science
• Environmental health

Selected publications

• Hospital Adoption and Pricing for Oncology Biosimilars

  JAMA · 2026-03-11 · 1 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  Importance: Many physician-administered oncology biologics are losing patent protection in the coming years and will face competition from biosimilars. Hospitals and insurers share a mutual interest in developing payment methods that share the potential savings from adopting these less costly agents. Objective: To test whether hospitals paid lower acquisition prices and earned higher markup margins for physician-administered oncology biosimilars; whether insurers reduced the reimbursement prices they paid to hospitals, thereby sharing in the savings from lower manufacturer prices; and whether reductions in acquisition prices and increases in hospital margins were associated with accelerated adoption of biosimilars. Design, Setting, and Participants: Observational study using 2020-2024 data for patients covered by Blue Cross Blue Shield health insurance, linked to information on drug acquisition prices paid by hospitals to manufacturers; drug reimbursement prices paid by insurers to hospitals; hospital eligibility for federal 340B price discounts; and other hospital, patient, and market characteristics. Exposures: Biologics and biosimilars acquired by hospitals from manufacturers at one price and reimbursed by private insurers at a higher price. Main Outcomes and Measures: Acquisition prices paid by hospitals to manufacturers, reimbursement prices paid by insurers to hospitals, hospital drug price markup margin, hospital adoption of biosimilars. Results: Between 2020 and 2024 (66 139 patients who received oncology biologics and biosimilars in 1541 hospitals), acquisition prices paid by hospitals to drug manufacturers declined by 60%, 72%, and 63% for the biosimilars of bevacizumab, trastuzumab, and rituximab, respectively. The reimbursement prices paid by insurers to hospitals declined more slowly, at 32%, 36%, and 34%, allowing an increase in hospital markup margins. In multivariable regression analyses, each additional dollar of acquisition price was associated with $2.72 in higher hospital reimbursement for bevacizumab (95% CI, $0.51-$4.93), $1.82 for trastuzumab (95% CI, $1.27-2.38), and $2.32 for rituximab (95% CI, $1.56-$3.09). Increases in hospital markup margins were associated with increased adoption of biosimilars, rising from a 32%, 37%, and 18% share of bevacizumab, trastuzumab, and rituximab use in 2020 to 93%, 87%, and 84% by 2024. Conclusions and Relevance: Hospital price markup margins from the administration of oncology biosimilars have increased over time and have been accompanied by large increases in the utilization of these therapies.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• A Health Economic Evaluation of Digital Digestive Care Management

  The American Journal of Managed Care · 2026-01-21

  article

  OBJECTIVES: Chronic gastrointestinal disorders are common and costly for employers. We sought to evaluate the effects of an employer-sponsored digital digestive care program on health care spending. STUDY DESIGN: Retrospective controlled cohort study. METHODS: Using propensity score matching of participants and nonparticipants, we evaluated the health care spending of users of a digital digestive care program vs matched controls. RESULTS: At baseline, the mean (SD) age of the 347 participants and 1041 matched controls was 44 (10) years, 87% were female, and total mean (SD) annual health care spending was $8884 ($12,884) per member per year (PMPY). The mean program cost was $345 PMPY. Our results show savings of $5.87 for every dollar invested ($2026 savings PMPY / $345 program cost PMPY), for a net return on investment of $4.87 for every $1.00 invested after subtracting program costs. CONCLUSIONS: Digital digestive care is promising as a cost-saving employer-sponsored benefit.

  PublisherDOI

• Arbitration and Negotiated Prices: Evidence from Insurer–Doctor Disputes

  Brown Digital Repository · 2026-01-22

  articleOpen accessSenior author
  PublisherDOI

• Trends in Medicaid Utilization and Financing for Hospitals With Psychiatric Beds

  JAMA Psychiatry · 2026-02-11

  articleOpen access

  This cross-sectional study assesses how Medicaid’s role in financing inpatient psychiatric care has changed geographically across US states from 2014 to 2023.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• More Than Methadone Dispensers: The Authors Reply

  Health Affairs · 2026-01-01

  article
  PublisherDOI

• Oregon’s Hospital Rate Cap: The Authors Reply

  Health Affairs · 2026-05-01

  articleSenior author
  PublisherDOI

• Analysis of Medicare Final Payment Rates in Vermont

  Brown Digital Repository · 2026-01-23

  articleOpen accessSenior author
  PublisherDOI

• The Current Era of Health Care Consolidation

  The Journal of Economic Perspectives · 2026-05-01

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  Consolidation in the last few decades has reshaped the organization and structure of US health care markets, among both providers and insurers. Nearly all US hospital and insurer markets exceed established regulatory thresholds for competitive markets, and over half of physicians are now employed by a hospital or health system, which can increase spending for patients, payers, and taxpayers. Increased supply-side concentration can alter the balance of negotiations between providers and insurers. Prices for patients with commercial insurance are approximately 2.5 times the prices paid by those with public insurance. High and variable prices have minimal link with higher quality, and the United States leads peer nations in health care spending. These dynamics have created ongoing national debates over an “affordability crisis” and generates frustrations with the US health care system. This article discusses sources of rising health care spending and potential policy solutions.

  PublisherDOI

• Does Advertising Expand the Market for Hospital Services? Evidence from Medicare

  SSRN Electronic Journal · 2026-01-01

  preprintOpen accessSenior author
  PublisherDOI

• Telehealth vs In-Person Outpatient Mental Health Service Use and Spending Among Medicare Beneficiaries From 2019 to 2023

  JAMA Network Open · 2026-01-05

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  This cross-sectional study identifies patterns of telehealth utilization and spending for anxiety, depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, and posttraumatic stress disorder before, during, and after the COVID-19 pandemic among Medicare fee-for-service beneficiaries.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

Recent grants

• The Effects of Insurance Benefit Design Innovation on Patient Health

  NIH · $649k · 2019–2025

• Using Big Data to Estimate the Effects of Complex Cost-Sharing Rules on Colorectal Cancer Screening and Patient Health

  NIH · $414k · 2017–2020

Frequent coauthors

• Michael R. Richards

  Brown University

  52 shared

• Jonathan Cantor

  43 shared

• James C. Robinson

  University of California, Berkeley

  36 shared

• Timothy A. Brown

  Berkeley Public Health Division

  33 shared

• Neeraj Sood

  University of Southern California

  31 shared

• Dena M Bravata

  21 shared

• Maggie Shi

  18 shared

• Virat Agrawal

  University of Southern California

  17 shared

Education

• Ph.D.

  University of California-Berkeley

  2015

• B.A.

  University of Chicago

  2008