About

A freelance journalist, Joseph Burns covers health reform and insurance for the Association of Health Care Journalists and contributes to AHCJ’s Covering Health blog. He also writes about health policy and the business of health care for many publications. His work has been published in Fortune’s Well section, The New York Times,  Medical Economics magazine, Managed Healthcare Executive, among others. As a writer and editor, he has covered health care since 1991 for a variety of organizations, including the The Commonwealth Fund, the National Alliance for Healthcare Purchaser Coalitions, the National Committee for Quality Assurance, National Quality Forum, and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. 

An experienced researcher, writer, and editor for magazines, newspapers, and newsletters, Burns has edited books on health care business strategies for Faulkner & Gray and Panel Publishers, both in New York. From 1991 to 1994, he was editor-in-chief of Business & Health magazine, formerly published by Medical Economics Co., and later was a contributing editor and author of a monthly column for Managed Healthcare Executive magazine. He was the founding editor of The Financial Manager, a magazine for accountants and other business strategists. He began his career as a newspaper reporter in Connecticut and worked as a regional news editor for The Hartford Courant, the nation’s oldest newspaper. While at The Courant, he taught news writing in the Journalism Department at the University of Connecticut.

He lives with his partner, Judy Tarr, in Brewster, Mass. They share their home with Judy’s beautiful rescue dog, Gisele, and the funniest cat on Cape Cod, Missy. In September 2022, their much-loved yellow Labrador Retriever, Roscoe, left this world. Judy and Joe expect that he is searching happily somewhere for his favorite cheese.

Last update to this page: March 18, 2023