Julia Baller

Julia Baller is a senior researcher who focuses on Medicaid policies and programs, particularly for populations with behavioral health conditions. She has expertise in using Medicaid administrative data for data analytics and policy evaluations.

Baller leads Mathematica’s work using the national Transformed Medicaid Statistical Information System Analytic Files to conduct complex data analytics for the Centers for Medicaid and CHIP Services. Currently, she leads a task monitoring the impact of COVID-19 on the Medicaid program. In this role, she also led the development of Medicaid data tools for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Innovation Accelerator Program, which focuses on physical and behavioral health integration, substance use disorder, maternal and infant health, and beneficiaries with complex care needs.

Besides her data analytics work, Baller also has experience using Medicaid administrative data to implement quality measures and evaluate programs. She currently directs a project that is testing the feasibility of implementing quality measures within Certified Community Behavioral Health Center expansion grantees in multiple states. Previously, she led an impact evaluation of states that run Delivery System Reform Incentive Payment programs authorized via 1115 waivers, and she advised CMS on evaluation and monitoring plans for these states.

Baller’s work has been published in peer-reviewed journals, including BMC Psychiatry, Psychiatric Services, Schizophrenia Bulletin, and Autism. She holds a Ph.D. in health services research and policy from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.