ECON 340 - Health Economics

3 Credit(s)

This course studies how to apply microeconomic tools to analyze health and medical care issues. It starts with the special features of healthcare as a commodity, the demand for health and medical care services, and the functioning of insurance markets. Then the course turns to the economic explanations for the behavior of medical care providers such as hospitals and physicians, the special features of the health care labor market, and the behavior of the pharmaceutical industry. The course also examines the role of and economic justification for government involvement in the medical care system. Finally, it uses economic tools to compare different healthcare systems in the world and review and analyze various proposals for health care reform in US. As warranted.

Prerequisite(s): ECON 105 or ECON 110.