ECON30100 The Economics of Health and Health Policy
With people living longer and new medical treatments being introduced, the health sector is becoming an ever-more important part of the global economy. Policies towards the sector are a major source of political debate both in Ireland and abroad where controversies over the Affordable Care Act in the US and the National Health System in the UK are common. This module explains why the health sector is different from other parts of the economy and shows how to use applied microeconomics to test theories about how the sector works.
The module will focus on issues such as (1) How people make decisions about investing in their health: Do we invest more or less in our health as we get older? (2) Economic epidemiology and the economics of infectious diseases. (3) The health insurance system and demand for health insurance (4) Supplier-induced-demand: Do doctors always act in the best interests of their patients? (5) The role of economic evaluation in healthcare: Should expensive new drugs be available in the public health care system?
The theoretical foundation of each topic is presented, before working through empirical real-life examples of each.
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REVIEWSMODULE INFO
An interesting module that is definitely wort doing but it will require a reasonable amount of work as the content can be complicated. Make sure to do the practice questions to make sure you know what's going on. deals with real policy practices and methods. Interesting and challenging module but worth doing overall.