Rashi Fein Explained

Rashi Fein
Native Name Lang:English
School Tradition:providential government
Birth Date:6 February 1926
Birth Place:The Bronx, New York
Death Place:Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts
Resting Place:Lindwood Memorial Park, 497 North Street, Randolph, MA[1]
Nationality:American
Institution:Harvard Medical School
Field:health economics
Alma Mater:Johns Hopkins University, Harvard University
Contributions:'a father of Medicare'; founding member, Institute of Medicine (IOM); Founding Member, National Academy of Social Insurance
Awards:Traveling Fellowship, World Health Organization, 1971; John M. Russell Medal, Markle Scholars, 1971; Martin E. Rehfuss Medal and Lectureship; Johns Hopkins University Alumni Association Award, 1999; Lifetime Achievement Award "For Fearlessly Promoting the Rights of All to Health Care", Health Care, 2000; Adam Yarmolinsky Medal, Institute of Medicine, 2000; Debs-Thomas-Bernstein Awards, 2009
Spouse:Ruth (Breslau) Fein
Religion:Jewish
Children:Alan (Cambridge), Michael, Karen /relevance?-->

Rashi Fein (February 6, 1926 – September 8, 2014) was an American health economist termed "a father of Medicare" in the United States[2] and "an architect of Medicare",[3] was Professor of Economics of Medicine, Emeritus, in the Department of Global Health and Social Medicine at Harvard Medical School, and the author of the book Medical Care, Medical Costs: The Search for a Health Insurance Policy[4] (Harvard University Press, 1986, 1989).[5] [6]

His work has included benefit-cost analysis, health care financing, health care workforce policy, health equity, cost containment, the financing of medical education, and health care reform.

He was the brother of Leonard J. Fein, also known as Leibel Fein, an American activist and writer, who had taught political science at MIT, became Deputy Director of the Harvard–MIT Joint Center for Urban Studies, and specialized in Jewish social themes.[7]

Fein served on the Advisory Committee of the Jewish Alliance for Law and Social Action[2] He died of melanoma at Massachusetts General Hospital, in Boston.[8]

Career

He began his service to the United States during World War II in the US Navy.[9] He spent much of his time after that thinking and writing about health care reform. He was a member of the Truman Commission on the Health Care Needs of the Nation, which, as early as 1952, had supported national health insurance and the regionalization of health care delivery. Later, he served on President John F. Kennedy's Council of Economic Advisors as a senior staff member (1961-1963). There, he helped to develop the initial legislation for Medicare, a healthcare model that he continued to advocate throughout his life.[10] [11] Fein had also served on the Board of the Committee for National Health Insurance, under the leadership of former United Auto Workers President Douglas Fraser and under Walter Reuther on a board investigating malnutrition in the United States.[12] [13] He was a charter member of the Institute of Medicine (IOM), had received numerous honors for service in medical economics, and sat on boards of a number of not-for-profit health care institutions. He had authored nine books, the most recent of which was Lessons Learned: Medicine, Economics and Public Policy,[14] published in November 2009.[15]

He joined the Harvard faculty of the school of medicine and the John F. Kennedy School of Government in 1968. He also served as senior fellow in the economics program at the Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C.

His 1982 paper "What Is Wrong with the Language of Medicine?"[16] in the New England Journal of Medicine began:

A new language is infecting the culture of American medicine. It is the language of the marketplace, of the tradesman, and of the cost accountant. It is a language that depersonalizes both patients and physicians and describes medical care as just another commodity. It is a language that is dangerous.

It concluded:

A decent medical-care system that helps all the people cannot be built without the language of equity and care. If this language is permitted to die and is completely replaced by the language of efficiency and cost control, all of us — including physicians — will lose something precious.

He served as chair of the National Advisory Committee (NAC) for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's Scholars in Health Policy Research Program from 1994 to 2002 and was its Chair Emeritus until his death. His work included benefit-cost analysis, health care financing, health care workforce policy, cost containment, the financing of medical education, and health care reform. His first book was Economics of Mental Illness (1958). His last (2010) book, Lessons Learned: Medicine, Economics and Public Policy, was built on the various lessons and stories that, as Chair of the NAC, he had presented over the years at the Scholars' Annual Meeting in Aspen.

As an invited speaker, he presented his soon-to-be-published book at the "Health Care Reform 2009: Politics and Paranoia" in Boston on October 21, 2009, sponsored by the Boston Democratic Socialists of America and Mass-Care.[17]

Among colleagues, Fein was admired for his wry, often-humorous anecdotes drawn from Jewish culture and over 50 years of experience in the policy arena, which he brought together in his final book, Learning Lessons: Medicine, Economics, and Public Policy (Transaction Publishers, 2010).[7]

He also had served as a Director at Newbridge on the Charles, a senior living facility, an affiliate of the Harvard Medical School.[18] [19]

Achievements

Education

Professional and academic career

Recognitions and awards

Publications

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: RASHI FEIN's Obituary on Boston Globe. Boston Globe.
  2. http://www.jta.org/2014/09/09/news-opinion/united-states/rashi-fein-a-father-of-medicare-dies Rashi Fein, a "father of Medicare," dies, September 9, 2014, 11:52am, in JTA
  3. Web site: Rashi Fein, 88; Harvard economist was an architect of Medicare and an advocate for universal health care - The Boston Globe. bostonglobe.com.
  4. Book: Fein, Rashi. Medical Care, Medical Costs: The Search for a Health Insurance Policy. 21 June 1999. iUniverse. 978-1583483107.
  5. Web site: Department of Global Health & Social Medicine. ghsm.hms.harvard.edu.
  6. Book: Limited, Europa Publications. The International Who's who: 1990-91. 17 April 1990. Europa Publications Limited. 491. Google Books. 9780946653584.
  7. Web site: A brother's tribute to Leonard Fein. MAZON: A Jewish Response to Hunger.
  8. News: Rashi Fein, Economist Who Urged Medicare, Dies at 88. Douglas. Martin. The New York Times. 13 September 2014.
  9. Web site: Rashi Fein - KeyWiki. keywiki.org.
  10. Web site: Social Security History. www.socialsecurity.gov.
  11. Web site: Papers of Wilbur J. Cohen, notes Rashi Fein's role as member of the Advisory Council on Research Development, which provided assistance to the Social Security Administration for its research program. socialsecurity.gov.
  12. Web site: National Health Insurance—A Brief History of Reform Efforts in the U.S., March 2009, in Focus on Health Reform, blog of the Henry K. Kaiser Family Foundation. wordpress.com.
  13. http://www.reuther.wayne.edu/files/LR001069.pdf Index of Archives of Committee for National Health Insurance Collection in the Walter P. Reuther Library of Wayne State University
  14. Anderson. Gerald F.. 22 September 2010. Learning Lessons: Medicine, Economics, and Public Policy. JAMA. 304. 12. 1386. 10.1001/jama.2010.1380.
  15. http://healthpolicyscholars.org/rashi-fein Profile Page for Rashi Fein, Scholars in Health Policy Research, Robert Wood Johnson
  16. What Is Wrong with the Language of Medicine?. Rashi. Fein. 8 April 1982. New England Journal of Medicine. 306. 14. 863–864. 10.1056/NEJM198204083061409. 7062966.
  17. Web site: Health Care Reform 2009: Politics and Paranoia - Open Media Boston. openmediaboston.org.
  18. Web site: The NewBridge Leadership Team - Here for You - NewBridge on the Charles. www.hebrewseniorlife.org.
  19. Web site: NEWBRIDGE ON THE CHARLES INC - Alumni and Associates - Equilar BoardEdge. people.equilar.com.
  20. Web site: University at Albany - SUNY Honorary Degrees. Sairam. Chinnam. www.albany.edu.
  21. Web site: Rashi Fein, PhD. reachmd.com.
  22. Web site: Transaction - Routledge. Routledge.com.
  23. 3349730. Social and Economic Attitudes Shaping American Health Policy. Rashi. Fein. 17 April 1980. The Milbank Memorial Fund Quarterly. Health and Society. 58. 3. 349–385. 10.2307/3349730. 6903793.
  24. http://www.iom.edu/Activities/PublicHealth/MemberAwards/YarmolinskyAwardRecipients.aspx List of Adam Yarmolinsky Award Recipients, IOM website
  25. Web site: TYR, June 2009. dsaboston.org.

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