Health Policy
Healthcare spending accounts for more than one-sixth of U.S. GDP, and an even larger fraction of government spending. Healthcare policy involves many politically divisive issues that involve the interaction among legal policy, our complex, fragmented system of healthcare delivery, our complex, fragmented system for providing health insurance, the economics of healthcare delivery, and the political preferences and power of physicians, hospitals, and pharmaceutical companies. This course/seminar will build on the introductory health law, and explore selected current health policy issues. Some possible topics: How many people file for bankruptcy because they are uninsured and have large medical bills? How many people die or suffer disability because they don't have health insurance? Does a cap on damages in medical malpractice lawsuits reduce healthcare spending (on "defensive medicine") or attract physicians to a state that adopts such a cap? Do nonprofit hospitals behave differently than for-profit hospitals and if so, how? U.S. healthcare is uniquely expensive, by world standards. Is it also high quality, or only very expensive? How does public reporting of hospital quality measures affect quality? How will the Affordable Care Act (ACA) change the healthcare landscape? Will the health insurance exchanges created by the ACA survive, or fall into a death spiral? Can "alternative payment models" replace or supplement traditional "fee for service" healthcare? What do these models look like, and what results have they achieved? Many of these questions are empirical - theory does not provide a simple answer. This offering is designed as a cross between a regular course and a seminar. Students will have three options, as the basis for the course grade: (i) take a final exam; (ii) write a research paper on a healthcare policy topic of your choice; or (iii) develop readings for one of the course weeks, and provide an overview of those readings to the class. I envision an interactive, "seminar style" class focus.
Prerequisites & course information
Prerequisites: None. Some prior knowledge of health law would be helpful, but is not required. Evaluations: Final grades for the course will be determined based on class participation (20%) and your choice of one of the three options noted above (80%), presentation, and a final paper. Students are required to submit the paper by the end of the final exam period. Class Protocol: Students are expected to attend all classes and actively participate in class discussions. During class, laptops should be closed, and cell phones should be off or on vibrate mode. Course Materials: There are no required textbooks for this course. Readings will be posted on Canvas.
Sources
- Course catalogue ↗2026–2027