Michael O'Grady

Mike is leading a SHARE-funded project that will use the SNACC project (a data linkage project conducted by SHADAC, NCHS, AHRQ, ASPE, CMS, and Census) as a platform for identifying the most useful set of next-generation data linkage projects for the purpose of informing health care reform implementation.  The project will identify the barriers to creating these data sets, including current limits on data access, and evaluate whether the challenges and shortfalls created by these barriers outweigh the value added.  This analysis will be conducted through interviews with technical staff who work with these data and key outside researchers and analytic staff who directly inform policymakers.

Professional Background

Mike is a Senior Fellow at the National Opinion Research Center (NORC) at the University of Chicago.  At NORC, he concentrates on health policy research and analysis for public and private non-profit organizations.  His current research includes serving as principal investigator for the cost-effective component of a multi-year diabetes clinical trial; the development of policy options for an expanded federal role in the development of a national health information exchange; and the assessment of new developments in health insurance benefit design and cost sharing.  In addition to his work at NORC, Mike currently serves on the Board of Scientific Counselors at the CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics.

Mike is also Principal of O’Grady Health Policy LLC, a private health consulting firm, where he concentrates on strategic consulting and analysis for a range of for-profit organizations.  This research includes the development of new modeling and methods for improving the federal budget process by introducing the latest disease-based epidemiological modeling into budget estimates for interventions for chronic illness, particularly diabetes and obesity.

Additional Professional Roles

Mike is a veteran health policy expert with 24 years working in Congress and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).  From 2003 to 2005, he was the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation at HHS, where he directed both the policy development and policy research across the full array of issues confronting the Department.  During his tenure as the Assistant Secretary, he increased the quality and rigor of the Department’s research and analysis significantly, providing rapid and critical analyses of legislative and regulatory proposals. 

Prior to his Senate confirmation as the Assistant Secretary, Mike served as the senior health economist on the majority staff of the Joint Economic Committee of the U.S. Congress.  Previously, he held senior staff positions at the Senate Finance Committee, the Bipartisan Commission for the Future of Medicare, the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission and the Congressional Research Service at the Library of Congress.