Marilyn Moon

Marilyn Moon Speaker Biography

Nationally-Known Economist and Expert
on Medicare, Aging, and Health Care Financing

Marilyn Moon is an Institute Fellow at the American Institutes for Research (AIR) and the Director of AIR’s  Center on Aging. Moon was also Senior Vice President and Director of the Health Program at AIR from 2003-2013. Throughout her multi-faceted career as one of the preeminent scholars of Medicare policy, she has produced some of the most influential publications in this field, including Medicare Now and In the Future and Medicare: A Policy Primer. Her works, widely lauded and used by other experts, also serve as go-to guides for non-expert policymakers, educators, and students. From 1993 to 2000, Moon authored The Patient’s Advocate, a Washington Post column answering questions about health care reform and health insurance coverage issues.

Distiguished Public Servant

Marilyn Moon’s long and distinguished career as a public servant began at the Congressional Budget Office, where she worked as a senior analyst on entitlement issues with a particular emphasis on Medicare. She went on to work with the U.S. Bipartisan Commission on Comprehensive Health Care, popularly known as the Pepper Commission. During the Clinton Administration, Moon served with distinction as a Public Trustee of the Medicare and Social Security Trust Funds. More recently, Moon was the Chair of the Maryland Health Care Commission from 2008-2012. She also served as project director for the Community Forum, a project funded by the Agency for Health Research and Quality (AHRQ) at the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services that promotes stakeholder participation in evidence-based research.

Non-Governmental Organizations

Beyond government service and academia, Marilyn Moon has provided critical leadership and innovative thinking across a number of non-governmental organizations. In 1986, Moon established the Public Policy Institute at AARP. Today, AARP’s Public Policy Institute continues to inform and stimulate public debate on issues faced by aging Americans and contributes to the development of sound, creative policies that promote economic security, health care, and quality of life. Moon also left her mark on the Urban Institute, where she was a research associate and Senior Fellow for over 17 years between 1983 and 2003. While Moon was at Urban Institute, she published some of her most influential works, including Medicare Now and in the Future. Since 1996, Moon has served on the Medicare Rights Center Board of Directors and was president from 2005-2006. She is currently a member of the National Advisory Committee of the California Health Benefits Review Program and a member of the Institute of Medicine.

Media Expert

Marilyn Moon’s extensive writings and commentary continue to be widely cited. In addition to testifying before Congress on Medicare-related issues, her expertise has been sought by numerous media outlets, including CBS, NBC, and NPR’s Diane Rehm Show. She has authored and co-authored a large number of research reports and policy briefs on Medicare, poverty, health policy, income distribution, and long-term care issues. Throughout her illustrious career, Moon’s expertise and insight has influenced and continues to impact hundreds of professionals, leaders, and stakeholders within social insurance.

Social Insurance

A founding member of the National Academy of Social Insurance (NASI), Marilyn Moon has profoundly contributed to NASI’s mission and programs in many ways. In addition to serving on the Board of Directors, and as the Academy’s eighth president, Moon was Chair of NASI’s Study Panel on Financing Medicare. She helped produce a number of the Academy’s Medicare policy briefs and reports, including Financing Medicare’s Future, and has spoken at several of the Academy’s annual policy research conferences and other events.

Education

Marilyn Moon received her Ph.D. in economics from the University of Wisconsin, and her B.A. in economics from Colorado College, from which she also received an Honorary Doctor of Laws Degree in 2002.