Undergraduate Course: The Economics of Health and Health Care (ECNM10119)
Course Outline
| School | School of Economics |
College | College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 10 (Year 4 Undergraduate) |
Availability | Available to all students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | The aim of this course is to introduce students to the basic principles and tools of health economics. The course aims to show how the health care system differs from the economic textbook model of perfectly competitive markets. It will offer an overview of the issues of demand and supply for health care, supplier-induced demand, equity and inequality, health care financing and health insurance. It will emphasize the use of economic evaluation for assessing health care interventions as a way of making informed decisions in terms of costs and benefits. In addition, a range of practical examples will be provided of how health economics is applied in practice in both resource rich and resource poor countries.
Note that this course is very similar to ECNM10082, Health Economics, which will run in Semester 2. We are offering two courses on this topic because it is a popular subject and we will have capacity constraints next year. Students cannot take both courses.
Although ECNM10119 and ECNM10082 share a considerable amount of Health Economics topics, they differ in some areas of focus and the depth with which they explore specific topics. ECNM10082 emphasizes the demand side of health and the health care market, and dedicates a substantial portion of the course to the methods for the evaluation of health policies and interventions. ECNM10119 balances the demand and supply side of the health care market and gives emphasis to health insurance markets as well as the complexities of different health care systems. |
| Course description |
The following topics will be covered throughout the semester:
Week 1: Introduction to Health Economics, and Demand for Health Care
Week 2: Grossman Model, and Socioeconomic Disparities in Health
Week 3: Labour Market for Physicians, and Hospital Industry
Week 4: Insurance Markets, and Akerlof Model
Week 5: Rothschild-Stiglitz Model, and Adverse Selection in Real Markets
Week 6: Moral Hazard, and The Life Cycle of a Drug
Week 7: Technology & Price of Health Care, and Health Technology Assessment
Week 8: Health Policy Conundrum
Week 9: Beveridge Model: Nationalized Health Care, and Bismarck Model: Social Health Insurance
Week 10: American Model & 2010 Affordable Care Act, and Economics of Health Externalities
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Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | Visiting students must have an equivalent of at least 4 semester-long Economics courses at grade B or above for entry to this course. This MUST INCLUDE courses in Intermediate Macroeconomics (with calculus); Intermediate Microeconomics (with calculus); Probability and Statistics; and Introductory Econometrics. If macroeconomics and microeconomics courses are not calculus-based, then, in addition, Calculus (or Mathematics for Economics) is required. |
| High Demand Course? |
Yes |
Course Delivery Information
|
| Academic year 2024/25, Available to all students (SV1)
|
Quota: 100 |
| Course Start |
Semester 1 |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
200
(
Lecture Hours 20,
Seminar/Tutorial Hours 6,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
170 )
|
| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
65 %,
Coursework
35 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
|
| Additional Information (Assessment) |
Coursework (midterm): 35%
Degree Exam: 65% |
| Feedback |
Not entered |
| Exam Information |
| Exam Diet |
Paper Name |
Hours & Minutes |
|
| Main Exam Diet S1 (December) | The Economics of Health and Health Care December Exam 2024 | :120 | |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Have a knowledge and understanding of key concepts, issues and models in the economics of crime, along with relevant empirical evidence on and policy implications of those models and a deeper understanding of recent research activity in some more specialised areas.
- Research and investigative skills such as problem framing and solving and the ability to assemble and evaluate complex evidence and arguments.
- Communication skills in order to critique, create and communicate understanding and to collaborate with and relate to others.
- Personal effectiveness through task-management, time-management, teamwork and group interaction, dealing with uncertainty and adapting to new situations, personal and intellectual autonomy through independent learning.
- Practical/technical skills such as, modelling skills (abstraction, logic, succinctness), qualitative and quantitative analysis and general IT literacy.
|
Reading List
| 'Health Economics' by Jay Bhattacharya, Timothy Hyde, and Peter Tu. 2013. 1st edition. ISBN: 9781137029966. Red Globe Press. |
Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Not entered |
| Keywords | health,health care |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Jakub Lonsky
Tel:
Email: jlonsky@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Ms Sam Stewart
Tel:
Email: v1sstew7@ed.ac.uk |
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