This course applies theoretical and empirical tools of microeconomics to the study of health insurance and the healthcare sector. This course will cover a broad range of topics including the demand for healthcare, the design and financing of health insurance, the behavior of non-profit and for-profit hospitals, the role of competition in the healthcare market, the determinants of healthcare spending, the sources of technological change in the healthcare sector, and the effects of government regulations on the healthcare market. We will also study in depth the role of adverse selection and moral hazard in healthcare markets, both theoretically and empirically. The course will briefly discuss healthcare systems around the world and describe socioeconomic disparities in health outcomes in both the United States and around the world. The course will conclude with applications of all of these concepts to recent health care policy debates in the United States.

The recommended prerequisites for this class are 33001 (Microeconomics) and 41000 (Business Statistics).

There is no textbook for this course, but I encourage students to purchase the “Healthcare Handbook” e-book and read it prior to the start of class. It is a useful introduction to the U.S. healthcare system, and many of the examples in class will be from the U.S. healthcare system. I will distribute additional readings which will be a mix of articles and academic papers, as well as chapters from my own health economics textbook (in progress).