Economics and Health Care Reform

Catalog description

The objective of this course is for students to examine health care issues and reforms from an economic perspective. The course will first provide students with an overview of the U.S. health care system and then discuss important problems such as high health care costs and the high number of uninsured. Much attention will focus on various provisions of the 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), also known as Obamacare. Topics covered will include the expansion of private and public health insurance, individual mandate, measures to control health care costs and spending, the regulation of the health insurance industry, the politics and ongoing debates surrounding health care reform, and the impact of health care reform on the economy.