PHCG 3450 Introduction to Health Economics and Health Policy

This course prepares undergraduate public health students and students interested in health care to understand important health care policies through an economic lens. One of the main areas of public health is health policy as it relates to economic principles as well as understanding how to implement and sustain key programs that keep populations healthy. For example, Medicare and Medicaid, two of the largest government funded programs in the United States, are key programs for the population over aged 65 and low income individuals in the United States. Understanding the economic principles, the financing and the sustainability of these programs is essential for any student studying public health and other students interested in working in the health care sector and/or studying medicine or nursing. This course will use programs like Medicare and Medicaid and other US and global programs to understand the importance of understanding economics in how every system in the world is organized and managed. As such, basic economic principles will be utilized to examine complex health care system issues, such as the structure and financing of US health care system and roles of government, insurers, providers and consumers within the system. Various market structures will be studied including the insurance market, the labor market and the pharmaceutical market. Students will engage in strategies to analyze and inform health policy through review of published material and hands on applications and cases. The course provides the foundation for public health students and other students that may be interested in health economics.