Meet
Colin OLaughlin

Colin OLaughlin supports clients through data-driven analysis and economic insights that inform business decisions affected by federal and state policy.

He leverages his experience in insurance products and benefit design, healthcare market structure, and quality initiatives to provide clients with detailed analytics, including impact and risk analysis, forecasting, and simulations.

In previous positions at Avalere, he contributed to the development of products, leveraging large healthcare datasets and conceptualizing and programming dashboards to provide competitive intelligence. In addition, he provided analysis around epidemiological, tax, and budgetary impacts of federal health policies. Prior to that, he worked alongside PhD economists at Compass Lexecon to generate expert economic analysis of antitrust matters and advise clients on competition policy.

Colin has an MPP in international security and economic policy and a BA in economics from the University of Maryland in College Park.

Authored Content

October 15, 2020 | Insights & Analysis > Federal Policy

Step Therapy Can Lead to Higher OOP Costs for Crohn’s Disease Patients
Avalere analysis finds that patients with Crohn’s disease who experience a negative outcome when required to step through a plan’s preferred product may face higher upfront out-of-pocket (OOP) costs and could increase costs to payers.
September 23, 2020 | Insights & Analysis > COVID-19 Intel Center

COVID-19 Provider Relief Funding and Future Allocation Considerations
The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act appropriated $100 billion for the Public Health and Social Services Emergency Fund—known as the Provider Relief Fund (PRF)—and subsequent legislation appropriated an additional $75 billion through the Paycheck Protection Program and Health Care Enhancement Act.
June 30, 2020 | Insights & Analysis > Federal Policy

Medicare FFS Risk Scores Vary Based on Eligibility and Entitlement
An analysis of CMS’s Hierarchical Condition Category (HCC) model shows that fully dual-eligible beneficiaries have the highest risk scores.
April 16, 2020 | Insights & Analysis > Vaccines / Preventive Services

Medicare Part D Plans Continue to Require Cost Sharing for Vaccines
An Avalere analysis finds that Medicare Part D plans allow $0 cost-sharing for select vaccines just 4% of the time, likely affecting immunization uptake.
November 12, 2019 | Insights & Analysis > Federal Policy

Affordable Patient Access to PCSK9 Inhibitors Remains Challenging Across Part D Plans in 2020
Avalere analysis finds that, despite substantial list price decreases across the PCSK9 inhibitor class, out-of-pocket costs for the majority of 2020 Part D beneficiaries remain significant
August 21, 2019 | Insights & Analysis > Federal Policy

Impact of Proposed CMS Methodology for Calculating Payment Errors May Vary Based on Plan Enrollee Characteristics
In 2018, CMS proposed to revise its Risk Adjustment Data Validation (RADV) methodology to exclude the FFS Adjuster in its payment recoupment calculations. New analysis from Avalere finds that the payment impact associated with fee-for-service (FFS) Medicare coding discrepancies would be greater for certain subgroups of beneficiaries (e.g., dual-eligible, those with certain common and potentially serious health conditions) enrolled in the MA program.
July 23, 2019 | Insights & Analysis > Federal Policy

Methodology and Analysis of the Center for American Progress’s Medicare Extra Policy Proposal
The Center for American Progress (CAP) commissioned Avalere to evaluate ‘Medicare Extra’ as a package of reform polices implemented and phased in over time across the US healthcare system.
July 1, 2019 | Insights & Analysis > Drug Pricing

Over Half of Medicare Advantage Beneficiaries Enrolled in Plans that Require Step Therapy for New Starts of Part B RA Biologics in 2019
Avalere analysis of 1,375 Medicare Advantage plans’ 2019 medical benefit drug coverage policies finds that 672—covering approximately 14.3 million lives—apply step therapy to at least 1 of the rheumatoid arthritis biologic drugs covered under Medicare Part B in 2019.
May 31, 2019 | Press Releases > Value-Based Care

Cancer Treatment Costs Are Higher Among Oncology Care Model Participants than Benchmarks Predict
A new Avalere analysis finds that oncology practices participating in the Oncology Care Model (OCM) treated patients with 2–3% higher Medicare costs per episode, on average, than OCM prediction model estimates during the first two performance periods.
March 18, 2019 | Insights & Analysis > Federal Policy

CMS Methodology for Calculating Payment Errors May Result in Underpayments to Health Plans
In February 2012, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced a final payment error calculation methodology for its contract-level Risk-Adjustment Data Validation (RADV) audits of Medicare Advantage (MA) plans.
October 31, 2018 | Insights & Analysis > Federal Policy

Trends in Opioid Use: History, Background, and Origins of the Epidemic
Shift in clinical practice as far back as 30 years ago planted the seeds for the current opioid epidemic. New research by Avalere Health finds that between the mid-1980s and 1990s, individual pharmaceutical manufacturers, national scientific bodies, and professional societies began a push to treat pain more aggressively.