Prof Alistair Mcguire COW4.05

This course is compulsory on the MSc in International Health Policy (Health Economics). This course is available on the MSc Health Policy, Planning and Financing, MSc in Health, Population and Society, MSc in International Health Policy and MSc in Social Policy (Research). This course is available as an outside option to students on other programmes where regulations permit.

This course develops basic economic concepts as they are applied to the health sector, and provides for specialisation in health economics. Nature of health care as an economic commodity. How markets and insurance markets work, and how they can fail for health care and health care insurance. The economics of paying providers and different approaches taken by governments in different countries. Incentive mechanisms and Diagnostic Related Group payment schemes and yardstick competition. Labour markets in health care. Economic evaluation as a regulatory tool.

10 hours of lectures and 18 hours of seminars in the MT. 4 hours of lectures in the ST.

The following is a basic reading list for the course: S Folland, A C Goodman & M Stano, The Economics of Health and Health Care (3rd edn), Prentice Hall, 2001; B McPake, L Kumaranayake & C Normand, Health Economics - An International Perspective, Routledge, 2002.

Supplementary reading list- this is given at the beginning of the course and includes references to specialised texts and articles on each subject covered within the course.

Exam (100%, duration: 2 hours) in the main exam period.