About the authors

Jay Bhattacharya is an associate professor of medicine at Stanford University, a research associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research, and a senior fellow at the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research. His research focuses on the constraints that vulnerable populations face in making decisions that affect their health status. He is particularly interested in the effects, both intended and unintended of government policies and programs designed to benefit vulnerable populations. He has published studies on the economic constraints facing the elderly, adolescents, patients with HIV/AIDS, and obese people.

He worked for three years as an economist at the RAND Corporation in Santa Monica, California, where he also taught health economics as a visiting assistant professor at the University of California, Los Angeles. He has a BA in economics, an MD and a PhD from Stanford University. His preferences are shockingly time-consistent, so he has no demand whatsoever for commitment devices. 

Timothy Hyde is a doctoral student at Yale University studying health economics and the economics of information. His past research projects include a game-theoretic model of workplace discrimination and an exploration of the effects of loosening licensure requirements for doctors in the US. As far as his health insurer knows, he enjoys a daily morning jog and has never so much as heard of In-N-Out Burger.

Peter Tu is a doctoral student in economics at Harvard University. His past research includes an auction theory-based analysis of market power in the viatical settlement market. At the moment his favorite economics topic is moral hazard. Health insurers (and anyone looking to take him out to dinner) have been forewarned!