Health Economics

Description

Practical information Course ID: FEB13053 Credits: 4 EC Instruction language: English Registration procedure: Via OSIRIS Secretariat: Support Office Applied Economics, T18-13, 010 4082776, office.ae@ese.eur.nl Course description Content: Advances in medical technology generate substantial improvements in population health, but also lead to rapidly rising health care costs. Population ageing both increases the need for health care and reduces the fraction of people working to pay for it and providing the necessary care. At the same time, health inequalities remain stubbornly high and further reduce productivity. How can we resolve these challenges? This course will introduce students to economic analysis of health and health care. We will start by addressing the question of what makes health care a different economic good. The special features of health care mean that the standard economic tools are not sufficient to study its demand and supply. We will learn the main economic models that have been developed to analyse the demand and supply of health care and health insurance. This course will also provide an introduction to economic evaluation of health care. How much should we pay for an extra year in good health? Questions that will be addressed include: • Should governments provide health care? • Do doctors induce unnecessary demand for their services? • Can poor people pay for their own health insurance? • Should health insurance premia depend on how (un)healthy people are? • How to determine the value/utility that people attach to health? • What health care services should be included in the basic insurance package? Learning goals: • To become acquainted with the discipline of Health Economics. • Understand the major theories in this field. • Understand the main empirical work in this field. • To be able to apply basics of methods for economic evaluation of health care. • To be able to understand and critically assess published studies in health economics. • To tackle a challenging and timely issue in health economics through an assignment Extra: - The group assignment counts for 30%, final exam for 70% - The mark of the exam should be at least 4.5. - If a small number of students fail the examination, the re-examination will be oral, instead of written. Study materials Jay Bhattacharya, Timothy Hyde, Peter Tu (2013). Health Economics. Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN: 978-1-137-02996-6. Selected articles that will be distributed through Canvas. Entrance requirements Entrance requirements course enrolment: You must meet the following requirements Enrolled for one of the following degree programmes BSc2 Econometrics ECON-DIV Econometrics and Operations Research Economics and Business Economics International Bachelor Econometrics and Operations Research International Bachelor Economics and Business Economics Period Enrolment periods: Enrolment period: 1 December 2025 until 16 January 2026 23:59 Unenrolment: until 16 January 2026 23:59 Period of education: 29 december 2025 until 28 februari 2026 Assessment Assessment materials: Lecture material Mandatory readings Assessments (result in OSIRIS): Test weight: 30; Test weight: 70 Assessment: Resit opportunity