Dylan H. Roby, PhD, is a faculty associate at the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research. He is also interim chair and associate professor of health, society, and behavior at the University of California, Irvine Program in Public Health. Roby collaborates with colleagues at UCLA on the California Simulation of Insurance Markets (CalSIM) microsimulation model, and is a member of UCLA's cost analysis team for the California Health Benefit Review Program. His primary academic appointment is in the UC Irvine Program in Public Health, where he conducts research on Medicaid, the health care safety net, and the Affordable Care Act's implications for insurance markets, system redesign and access to care. He teaches courses on health politics and policy in the BA, MPH, and PhD programs in public health.
Roby was the former director (2012-2014) of the Health Economics and Evaluation Research Program at the Center, where he helped developed the Center's capacity for analysis of Medicaid claims data, Medicaid waiver evaluation, and conducting confidential data analyses and surveys. He served as the associate director of the MPH Program from 2010-2012. Prior to becoming the director of Health Economics and Evaluation Research, he was a senior researcher at the Center from 2003 to 2011.
Before returning to UCLA, Roby worked for four years as a senior research associate at The George Washington University Center for Health Services Research and Policy. He worked on safety net issues, including data analysis and research on community health centers and public hospitals. During his time in Washington, DC, he also worked for the National Association of Community Health Centers, the National Governors' Association's Center for Best Practices, and the Progressive Policy Institute. Roby was also an instructor at The George Washington University Department of Health Policy. Prior to that, he was a research assistant at the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research.
Roby graduated from UCLA with a bachelor's degree in geography and a minor in public policy. He earned his doctoral degree in public policy from The George Washington University.
According to Dylan Roby, PhD, an associate professor of health, society and behavior at the University of California Irvine Program in Public Health, the system would be built on a fee-for-service model, similar to Medicare.
Advocates have argued that the COVID-19 pandemic has shed light on gaps in care and the disparities based on race, ethnicity, income, and location.
A single-payer system would eliminate costly premiums, copays, and deductibles, which would help close gaps and expand access to care to all.
Roby, who has co-authored multiple analyses exploring the costs and potential issues with AB-1400, says several issues would need to be worked out for the system to succeed.