Prof Elias Mossialos Cowdray 4.08

This course is compulsory on the Executive MSc in Health Economics and Policy (LSE and Chicago). This course is not available as an outside option.

There are no pre-requisites for this course. 

This course aims to introduce students to a comparative approach to analysing the development of health care financing, both in theory and in practice, with an emphasis on critical assessment of current and future policy options and issues. It focuses on the health financing functions of collecting revenue, pooling funds and purchasing services, as well as on policy choices concerning coverage, resource allocation and market structure. The course mainly draws on examples from health financing policy in developed countries, given these systems are the most advanced, have extensive readily available literature, and are based on best practice principles. However, healthcare system financing in developing countries will also be discussed, albeit to a lesser extent.

15 hours of lectures and 6 hours of seminars in the MT.

All students will have the opportunity to participate in additional lectures undertaken by external guests. These lectures will be run every Monday and Wednesday from 6pm to 8pm during the teaching period at LSE.

In addition, students will be given the option to participate in a three-hour webinar hosted at least 10 days before the due date of the take-home assessment. The webinar will consist of two-hours of lectures and one hour of question time.

Students will be expected to produce 1 essay in the MT.

Students will be provided with an option to complete a practise essay (up to 1,000 words), with topics provided by the lecturer. The essay will be reviewed by a seminar tutor, which will grade the exam as if it were the final. Comments will be provided to students to assist them in their final essay.

WHO, World Health Report 2010 - Health systems financing: the path to universal coverage (2010)

E Mossialos, A Dixon, J Figueras & J Kutzin (eds), Funding health care: options for Europe, Open University Press (2002)

T Rice, The economics of health reconsidered, Health Administration Press (3nd edn, 2009)

JS Skinner, A Chandra, DC Goodman, ES Fisher. The elusive connection between health care spending and quality. Health Affairs 2009;28(1):w119–23

PC Smith, E Mossialos, I Papanicolas, S Leatherman (eds). Performance Measurement for Health System Improvement: Experiences, Challenges and Prospects. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010

Take home exam (100%) in the LT.

The assessment is a take-home assessment. It will outline six topics covering the course content. Students will be required to complete two of the six topics, which will need to be at least 1,500 words in length. Students will have 72 hours to complete the take-home exam.