Paul Shafer, PhD
Associate Professor
Boston University School of Public Health
Health Law, Policy & Management

PhD, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
MA, University of North Carolina at Greensboro

Pronouns: he/him/his



Dr. Shafer is an associate professor in the Department of Health Law, Policy, and Management and co-director of the Boston University Medicaid Policy Lab. His research focuses on how health insurance and social safety net policies affect health, well-being, and equity. Do they work and are the benefits distributed equitably? If they don't work or have unintended consequences, why and how can we fix them? He is also an investigator with the Partnered Evidence-based Policy Resource Center at the VA Boston Healthcare System and research fellow with the Office of Personnel Management.

He previously served as a research economist at RTI International and junior fellow at the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. He is a former Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Health Policy Research Scholar, which amplified his commitment to policy-engaged scholarship and research translation. He holds a PhD in health policy and management with a concentration in health economics from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, an MA in applied economics from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, and a BA in economics from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility

I endeavor to incorporate equity into everything I do — Think, Teach, and Do.

Think — The focus of my work is on health insurance and social safety net policies, which are inherently closely linked to equity and health. I perform rigorous evaluation of policies and campaigns to determine which are most effective and communicate what I learn beyond the research community to policymakers and the public so they can advocate for and implement evidence-based and/or equitable policies. Often a lack of evidence is used to uphold a status quo that is a legacy of racist and discriminatory systems, unwittingly using science as a weapon to maintain them, which we should resist at every turn. I served as co-PI of a Commonwealth Fund grant ("A data-driven approach to ending racial inequity through health policy evaluation and innovation") to the Center for Antiracist Research, where I was a faculty affiliate from inception, supporting equity-focused health policy research and translation. I am currently working with the Office of Personnel Management, the human resources agency of the federal government, to understand affordability and equity in the Federal Employee Health Benefits program, the largest employer health insurance plan in the country.

Teach — I help train underrepresented scholars and bring their voices into the scientific and policymaking arenas. I support first-generation scholars, like me, and scholars of color that are coming up behind me, making the hidden curriculum more visible and investing the time that won't show up in my CV but could make a difference for their career trajectory. I currently serve or have served as a BU Terrier F1RSTS Advocate, BUSPH FirstGen Mentor, and a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Health Policy Research Scholars Alumni Community Pillar. I was also recognized as a Provost Mentor Fellow at BU in 2021 for my commitment to inclusive mentoring. I have advocated for students from non-traditional and underrepresented backgrounds on our PhD admissions and departmental DEIJ committees, knowing that reversing inequities in academia and research requires vision and investment. The safe choice is rarely the equitable one, but we can't keep doing things the same way and expect different outcomes.

Do — I continue educating myself on the history and theories of race, class, and inequality, and aim to partner with scholars of different identities when conducting research involving communities that I do not represent. Having, and instilling in students, humility and deep respect for the people who our work is informed and/or affected by should always guide our actions. We continue to fight for acknowledgment that systemic racism has causal impacts on health through differences in education, policing, and other factors, providing an understanding upon which policies and institutions can be reimagined equitably. We clearly have much work to do on this front as the education of American history, universal access to voting, science, and public health have all become politicized and deeply polarized.

Publications listed below are automatically derived from MEDLINE/PubMed and other sources, which might result in incorrect or missing publications. Faculty can login to make corrections and additions.

iCite Analysis       Copy PMIDs To Clipboard

  1. Aswani MS, Do LA, Shafer PR. Use Of Social Determinants Of Health Z Codes Was Sparse, 2016-22. Health Aff (Millwood). 2025 May; 44(5):631-635. PMID: 40324133
     
  2. Skinner A, McCann NC, Howe CJ, Leifheit KM, Dean LT, Diaz Y, Ettman CK, Raifman J, Shafer PR. Association between pre-pandemic wealth and material hardships during the COVID-19 pandemic: how racial and ethnic wealth inequities shape household vulnerability to national crises. Health Aff Sch. 2025 May; 3(5):qxaf078.View Related Profiles. PMID: 40322319; PMCID: PMC12048749; DOI: 10.1093/haschl/qxaf078;
     
  3. Lim K, Goutos D, Aswani M, Benitez J, Thompson K, Shafer PR. Racial, ethnic, and rural disparities in access to Medicaid offices. Health Aff Sch. 2025 May; 3(5):qxaf072. PMID: 40330277; PMCID: PMC12053252; DOI: 10.1093/haschl/qxaf072;
     
  4. Ogden SN, Shafer PR, Dichter ME, Clark JA, Kempf MC, Jones DL, Wingood GM, Chandran A, Cohen MH, Jain JP, Goparaju L, Wilson TE, Adedimeji A, Haley DF. Partner Violence and Substance-Related Service Use: Differences by HIV Status Among Women. Am J Prev Med. 2025 Mar 25.View Related Profiles. PMID: 40147505; DOI: 10.1016/j.amepre.2025.03.001;
     
  5. Shafer PR. "When There Are Enough Cracks, Everyone Steps on Them": Administrative Burdens in the US Health Care System. Health Serv Res. 2025 Mar 20; e14602. PMID: 40110690; DOI: 10.1111/1475-6773.14602;
     
  6. Dorneo A, Ma Y, Garrido MM, Pizer SD, Shafer PR, Tsai TC, Frakt AB, Figueroa JF. Characteristics and Benefit Design of Veteran Medicare Advantage Affinity Plans. JAMA Health Forum. 2025 Mar 07; 6(3):e250159.View Related Profiles. PMID: 40152874; PMCID: PMC11953753; DOI: 10.1001/jamahealthforum.2025.0159;
     
  7. Shafer PR. A Higher Minimum Wage Can Help Keep Families Fed. JAMA Netw Open. 2025 Mar 03; 8(3):e252052. PMID: 40146112; DOI: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2025.2052;
     
  8. Duffy EW, Poole MK, Gonzalez D, Petimar J, Kinsey EW, Shafer PR, Baldwin-SoRelle C, Austin AE. Beyond Food Assistance: A Scoping Review Examining Associations of Nonfood Social Safety Net Programs in the United States With Food Insecurity and Nutrition Outcomes. Nutr Rev. 2025 Jan 27. PMID: 39868761; DOI: 10.1093/nutrit/nuae216;
     
  9. Aswani MS, Shafer PR. Medicaid Personal Needs Allowances-Overdue for Adjustment. JAMA Health Forum. 2025 Jan 03; 6(1):e244457. PMID: 39752170
     
  10. Podolsky MI, Raquib R, Shafer PR, Hempstead K, Ellis RP, Stokes AC. Factors Associated With Semaglutide Initiation Among Adults With Obesity. JAMA Netw Open. 2025 Jan 02; 8(1):e2455222.View Related Profiles. PMID: 39836425; PMCID: PMC11751746; DOI: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2024.55222;
     
Showing 10 of 96 results. Show More

This graph shows the total number of publications by year, by first, middle/unknown, or last author.

Bar chart showing 96 publications over 14 distinct years, with a maximum of 13 publications in 2021

YearPublications
20121
20132
20141
20152
201611
20176
20183
20198
20208
202113
20229
20239
202412
202511


Recent (within 3 months)

Aging on $2.42 a day: Mass. seniors fight for first boost in monthly allowance since 2007

The Boston Globe 4/28/2025

Biden let California get creative with Medicaid spending. Trump is signaling that may end

Cal Matters 4/24/2025

GOP lawmakers commit to big spending cuts, putting Medicaid under a spotlight – but trimming the low-income health insurance program would be hard

The Conversation 3/3/2025

Older

Health insurance premiums in Massachusetts are among the most expensive in the country. Why?

Boston Globe 12/19/2024

Charts: The biggest healthcare issues heading into the 2024 election

Yahoo!Finance 10/20/2024

Trump’s Claims That Blame Migrants: False or Misleading

The New York Times 10/18/2024

Free cash programs spread as more cities expand the anti-poverty safety net

NBC News 4/13/2024

Permanently Expanding the Child Tax Credit Can Make Generational Change

BU Today 2/13/2024

Children in 1 million more families faced food insecurity in 2022, USDA says

CNN 10/25/2023

Children in 1 million more families faced food insecurity in 2022, USDA says

Local 3 News 10/25/2023

Millions of Americans at risk of losing free preventive care after Texas ruling on ACA

The Conversation 4/7/2023

Federal judge says insurers no longer have to provide some preventive care services, including cancer and heart screenings, at no cost

CNN 3/31/2023

‘I got scammed’: Americans describe getting surprise medical bills via health care loopholes

yahoo 3/11/2023

15 Million Americans Could Soon Lose Medicaid Coverage

Newsweek 2/16/2023

U.S. Child Hunger Spiked in Weeks After Child Tax Credits Repealed

Health Day 10/24/2022

Food insufficiency increased in US households by 25% after expiration of Child Tax Credit payments

News Medical 10/21/2022

Food Insufficiency Up 25% Since Manchin, GOP Killed Child Tax Credit Boost

Common Dreams 10/21/2022

A Self-Inflicted Wound: The Looming Loss of Coverage

MedPage Today 10/2/2022

Free preventive care under the ACA is under threat again – a ruling exempting PrEP from insurance coverage may extend nationwide and to other health services

The Conversation 9/13/2022

Federal government steps in to help pull Missouri out of Medicaid backlog

Missouri Independent 8/9/2022

When a Medicaid Card Isn't Enough

Tradeoffs 5/17/2022

Monthly Child Tax Credit Payments Linked to Decline in Food Insufficiency

HealthCity 3/1/2022

The sunsetting of the child tax credit expansion could leave many families without enough food on the table

The Conversation 1/21/2022

Advance child tax credits reduced US food insufficiency by 26 percent

California News Times 1/14/2022

Special Pandemic Payments Staved Off Hunger for Children's Families

MedPage Todat 1/13/2022

Advance Child Tax Credit payments cut food insufficiency by 26%, study finds

UPI 1/13/2022

The next attack on the Affordable Care Act may cost you free preventive health care

The Conversation 9/7/2021

Study: People in Most Need Least Likely to Benefit from COVID Crowdfunds

Verywell Health 7/8/2021

New BU Lab Studies Medicaid, Where Racism, Poverty, and COVID-19 Meet

BU Today 2/17/2021

The Health 202: The U.S. is poised for another wave of covid-19 deaths, public health experts warn

The Washington Post 11/12/2020

What Canada’s COVID response can teach the U.S. about social safety nets

Fortune 10/23/2020

4 things students should know about their health insurance and COVID-19 before heading to college this fall

The Conversation 7/14/2020

POV: COVID-19 Has Exposed Serious Gaps in the US Social Safety Net

BU Today 6/18/2020

Coronavirus weekly: where next for globalization after the crisis?

The Conversation 5/27/2020

4 Ways COVID-19 Has Exposed Gaps in the US Social Safety Net

The Conversation 5/25/2020

Wait times remain stubbornly long in hospital emergency rooms

The Conversation 4/29/2020

Op-Ed: New rules from the Trump administration will hurt El Paso shooting victims

Los Angeles Times 8/23/2019

2024 Boston University: Emerging Leader
2024 Boston University: Early Career Catalyst Award
2024 Health Affairs Scholar: Peer Review Board
2023 Health Services Research: Editorial Board
2022 Boston University: Teach Award
2022 Tradeoffs: Research Council
2021 Health Services Research: Outstanding Reviewer
2021 AcademyHealth: Best of Annual Research Meeting
2021 AcademyHealth: Best of Health Economics Interest Group
2021 Boston University: Provost Mentor Fellow
2020 Boston University: Early Career Catalyst Award
2019 University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill: Jean G. Yates Outstanding Doctoral Student Award
2019 University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill: Impact Award
2018 University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill: Harry T. Phillips Award for Outstanding Teaching by a Doctoral Student
2017-2019 University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill: Graduate Tuition Incentive Scholarship
2017 University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill: Delta Omega Academic Excellence Award
2016-2019 Robert Wood Johnson Foundation: Health Policy Research Scholar
2016 University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill: Future Faculty Fellowship
2015 University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill: Doctoral Merit Assistantship
2014 RTI International: President's Award
2014 RTI International: Highly Published Author Award
2012 RTI International: Annual Award
2011 University of North Carolina at Greensboro: Omicron Delta Epsilon
Contact for Mentoring:
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