Health Economics & Policy: exploring health disparities, child health & health care spending

This course addresses issues related to population health, health care, and health policy using tools from empirical and theoretical economics. We will study topics such as the demand for health care, socioeconomic disparities in population health outcomes, health insurance design, the role of competition in health care markets, determinants of health care spending, technological change in the health care sector, and pharmaceuticals and the opioid crisis. Throughout the course, we will learn about research methodology that will help us to distinguish correlation from causation, and think critically about the role of the government and public policy. The course will feature concepts from microeconomic theory, statistics, and econometrics. Prerequisites: Human Biology Core or equivalent, and statistics requirements.