Scott W. Atlas

David and Joan Traitel Senior Fellow
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Biography: 

Scott W. Atlas, MD, is the David and Joan Traitel Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution, and senior fellow by courtesy at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies at Stanford.

Atlas's research interests are domestic and global health care policy, particularly the role of government and the free market in pricing, quality, access, and technology innovation. Atlas's most recent book is In Excellent Health: Setting the Record Straight on America’s Health Care (Hoover Institution Press, 2011). Other recent publications include Reforming America's Health Care System: The Flawed Vision of ObamaCare (Hoover Institution Press, 2010), "Relationship between HMO Market Share and the Diffusion and Use of Advanced MRI Technologies" (2004), with L.C. Baker; “Expanding CT and MRI Availability, Imaging Utilization in the Medicare Population, and the Challenge of Measuring Value” (2008), with L.C. Baker and C, Afendulis, and Power to the Patient: Selected Health Care Issues and Policy Solutions (Hoover Institution Press, 2005). Atlas has been interviewed about the role of government in health care on television, radio, and other news media, including BBC Radio and the Lehrer News Hour, and in newspapers such as Brazil’s Correio Braziliense, Italy’s Corriere della Sera, and Argentina’s Diario La Nacion.

Atlas is also the editor of the textbook Magnetic Resonance Imaging of the Brain and Spine, now in its fourth edition; it has been translated into Mandarin, Spanish, and Portuguese. A member of the boards of many scientific societies and journals during the past decade, he has authored more than 120 scientific publications in leading journals on applications of MRI in neurologic diseases. Atlas also lectures throughout the world on advances in MRIs of the brain and the key economic issues related to technology-based advances. He has been on the Nominating Committee for the Nobel Prize in Medicine and Physiology for several years and received numerous awards and honors in recognition of his leadership.

Atlas received a BS degree in biology from the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign and an MD degree from the University of Chicago.

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Featured

Under Obamacare, Hospitals Merge, Doctors Merge, And Patients Pay More For Less

by Scott W. Atlasvia National Review
Wednesday, November 25, 2015

Years after the initial rollout of the Affordable Care Act, the American people, the health-care industry, and the courts still struggle to navigate the law.

Featured

Restoring Quality Health Care: A Six Point Plan For Comprehensive Reform At Lower Cost

by Scott W. Atlasvia Real Clear Health
Monday, November 9, 2015

The current trajectory of the health system threatens its sustainability. Instead of the trade-off "take away benefits or raise taxes," I propose a six-point plan that restores the appropriate incentives to increase health care quality and simultaneously reduce its costs.

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Restoring Quality Health Care

by Scott W. Atlasvia Books by Hoover Fellows
Monday, October 26, 2015

Time is of the essence. America’s aging population will increasingly require medical care at an unprecedented level. Although extraordinary advances in technology offer great promise, the current trajectory of the health system, particularly under Obamacare, threatens both the sustainability of the system and the innovation essential to reaching its full potential.

Featured

Two Essential Tools For Repairing The Obamacare Damage

by Scott W. Atlas, John F. Coganvia The Wall Street Journal
Tuesday, September 1, 2015

Health-care savings accounts and high-deductible plans empower consumers and will bring down costs.

Analysis and Commentary

Repairing The ObamaCare Wreckage

by Scott W. Atlasvia Wall Street Journal
Sunday, June 28, 2015

Despite the Supreme Court decision to uphold the subsidies for private insurance in King v. Burwell, the fundamental problems with the Affordable Care Act remain. Ironically, it is the growing government centralization of health insurance at the expense of private insurance that must be addressed.

Medicare Disadvantage

by Scott W. Atlasvia Hoover Digest
Monday, April 20, 2015

For an older population, relying on government-run health care is a very bad idea.

Healthcare Costs
Analysis and Commentary

How Obamacare Fails The Poor And Middle Class

by Scott W. Atlasvia CNN.com
Wednesday, March 4, 2015

New figures indicate that about 11 million people have signed up for health insurance during this latest sign-up period of Obamacare, of which about half will be from the uninsured population, based on previous estimates.

Take Care to Innovate

by Scott W. Atlasvia Hoover Digest
Wednesday, January 28, 2015

How ObamaCare threatens to ruin our leadership in research and development.

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The Obamacare Election

by Scott W. Atlasvia Defining Ideas
Wednesday, January 7, 2015

The law is restricting treatment options, especially for poor and middle class families. 

Analysis and Commentary

If You Like Choice In Health Care, Look To Republicans

by Scott W. Atlasvia CNN
Tuesday, November 18, 2014

America is facing the greatest health care challenges in its history.

Pages

Advanced Reading Copy - Restoring Quality Health Care

Featured Commentary: In Excellent Health: Setting the Record Straight on America's Health Care

In Excellent Health:  Setting the Record Straight on America's Health Care