For three glorious days in June 2016, nearly 1,000 health economists converged on the University of Pennsylvania campus as LDI hosted the 6th Biennial Conference of the American Society of Health Economists (ASHEcon). In what reporter Dan Gorenstein called a “Woodstock for health geeks, ” the conference featured sessions in five different Penn buildings, a sweeping address by outgoing ASHEcon President Mark Pauly, and a reception at the castle-like 23rd Street Armory.

“This is about big plenaries, great stars and an army of health economists from across the country coming together here,” said Daniel Polsky, LDI Executive Director and chair of the conference local organizing committee. “The real gold is in the 534 papers that are being presented. There are 76 alone that evaluate aspects of how the Affordable Care Act is working or can be improved.” The conference was the largest in ASHEcon’s history.