What we fund
Health economics and health inequality research
We fund students who study who gets care, who pays for it, and who is left out.
What this covers
- Living costs while a student works on a health economics or health inequality project
- Books and reference texts for the project
- Journal fees when the work is ready to publish
Why this field
The richest 1 percent of American men live 14.6 years longer than the poorest 1 percent.1 Gaps that large have causes that can be measured, and students can do much of the measuring. The data is public, the methods are teachable, and the questions matter to hospitals, insurers, and public agencies.
This is also the work that has traveled furthest for us. The Boston Congress of Public Health has used health inequality research we funded.
Free data to start with
A student does not need a lab to begin. The data sources page lists free datasets, including the Health Inequality Project, CDC WONDER, HCUP, the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey, and the Opportunity Insights data library.
What to read first
The journal article library has a section on health inequality and health economics. Start with the income and life expectancy study, the Oregon Medicaid experiment, and the study of bias in a health risk algorithm.
Sources
- Chetty R, Stepner M, Abraham S, et al. The association between income and life expectancy in the United States, 2001-2014. JAMA. 2016;315(16):1750-1766. jamanetwork.com
Sources checked September 21, 2026. See every source we cite.
For companies and foundations
Fund a student researcher
Your gift pays for rent, a stipend, books, or a journal fee. It goes to a student who has the position and lacks the money to take it.