Health Economics

3 units

In this course, students will learn how to apply economic tools to the study of health and medical care issues. The course will examine the special features of medical care markets, the demand for health and medical care services, the economic explanations for the behavior of medical care providers (i.e., physicians and hospitals), the functioning of insurance markets, cost and comparative effectiveness, the economics of public health, and technology diffusion. Also examined will be the role of, and economic justification for, government involvement in the medical care system. The tools developed in the course will be used in discussions of current policy topics such as health reform, insurance reform, incentives for health behavior, rationing, and price regulation.