Course Descriptions

HS 340F — Advanced International Health Economics

Prerequisite: HS 330f. Meets for one-half semester and yields half-course credit.

Prepares students to apply the theories and research methods in health economics in order to analyze the challenging real world questions and to formulate health policies that would address the most pressing challenges.
As an example the course analyzes the trends of healthcare costs in industrialized nations and offers a set of theories and evidence on the root causes of the cost increase. It will also cover the interplay between insurance, technology, and demand for health care and hence the risk of similar cost inflation in developing countries. Based on the lessons learned from industrialized world a series of evidence based advices for formulation of cost containment policies will follow. Major abnormalities of health care market are discussed in this course. They improve the knowledge of students about the prevalent market failures and how to prevent or mitigate them. Additionally it will enhance students’ knowledge in those areas that ordinary theories of microeconomics and health economics have not been able to provide convincing answers to real world phenomena. For example consumer theory of microeconomics fails to fully explain the prevalence of underutilization of preventive care when the care is fully subsidized. Students will learn how the modern theories of Behavioral Economics are applied in order to modify health seeking behavior of consumers. Usually offered every year.
Moaven Razavi