The American Health Care System

Catalog description

The American health care system is a product of its history and of policy decisions made in doctors' offices, boardrooms, and congressional committee chambers over many decades—and presents opportunities for innovation. This course examines the structure and economics of health care financing and delivery in the United States, including private health insurance, Medicare, pharmaceuticals, and behavioral health; surveys the present structure of the American health care system and the history of efforts to reform health care at the federal level; and evaluates efforts to reform payment, expand access, and improve the quality of health care services. Lectures and interviews by active experts address successful policy change in health care, being a policy advocate, and proposing innovations to address needs within the health care system. You will draft a policy memo that analyzes an exigent challenge and recommends a policy innovation to inform and persuade a decision-maker of your choice.