PUBH6832

In the U.S. health care system, economic concepts are everywhere – whether we want them to be or not! This course examines well-known features of our health care system and recent policy changes, all through the lens of applied microeconomics. Topics include:

-The role of health insurance in preventing catastrophic expenditures and improving health.
-Current debates around public insurance (e.g., Medicaid work requirements and changing the Medicare eligibility age).
-Why health care is so darn expensive!!
-The difference between your physician and your car mechanic…
-Why administrative hassles (e.g., prior authorization) are so common in the health care system – and how they affect both patients and clinicians.

Students will gain familiarity with the key concepts of health economics (e.g., moral hazard, adverse selection) and will learn how to apply these concepts to ongoing debates about health policy at the state and federal levels.

This course is open to anyone who has previously taken an introductory economics or microeconomic theory course (or who has the permission of the instructor).

000527

Every Fall