Ellen Bouchery

Ellen Bouchery has more than 20 years of experience in health services research. Her work has focused on behavioral health, Medicaid/Medicare program administration, and health workforce.

Bouchery’s technical areas of expertise includes data management and analysis, cost of illness, program evaluation, and simulation modeling. She is skilled in analysis of Medicaid and Medicare data, complex federal survey data, electronic medical record system data, and an expert on program cost and cost-of-illness study methods. She has conducted cost-of-illness studies for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Office of National Drug Control Policy, the National Institute of Mental Health, and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. Program evaluation is another area of technical expertise.

Bouchery’s substantive areas of expertise are behavioral health, Medicaid/Medicare program administration, and health workforce. In the area of behavioral health, she is currently evaluating 10 innovative care models. She also recently examined Medicaid coverage and spending for substance abuse treatment by state and assessed the effect of substance use and mental health disorders on health care treatment costs, productivity, and the criminal justice system. In the area of Medicaid/Medicare program administration, Bouchery has developed and assessed payment models and reform initiatives. For the Medicaid program, she has conducted evaluations of new initiatives and developed Medicaid managed care payment rates including risk-adjustment methods and analysis of cost and quality-of-care implications. In the area of health care workforce, Bouchery is assessing the capacity of the substance abuse treatment workforce to meet increased demand for services resulting from expanded insurance coverage.

Bouchery publishes in peer-reviewed journals such as the Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment and Health Services Research. She holds an M.S. in economics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Her previous experience includes positions at the Lewin Group and the Urban Institute.