Economic Analysis of Health Policies

Undergraduate / Graduate

This course covers the foundations of the economics of health care as applied to current issues of health care policy. Content includes demand for health, medical care, and insurance; supply of medical care and behavior of health care practitioners; and economic perspectives on measurement in health care research. Using a combination of lectures, readings, problem sets, and discussion of newspaper and journal articles, the goal is for students to acquire a basic understanding of economic knowledge and thinking and to be able to apply that knowledge in analyzing policies. The course is open to graduate students and a limited number of undergraduates. A prior course in microeconomics is recommended; for those students without this preparation, the beginning of the course will include a short primer on key concepts in microeconomics.