Maricopa Community Colleges  ECN280   19946-99999 

Official Course Description: MCCCD Approval: 04/26/94

ECN280  19946-20066

LEC

3 Credit(s)

3 Period(s)

Health Care Economics

Microeconomic analysis of the production and distribution of health care. Consideration given to the problems of government regulation.

Prerequisites: ECN112 or permission of the instructor.

 

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MCCCD Official Course Competencies:

 

 

ECN280  19946-20066

Health Care Economics

 

1.

Identify the reasons why economists see health as a durable good. (I)

2.

Describe the productivity issues in health care. (I)

3.

Describe the factors that impact on the demand curve for medical services. (II)

4.

Illustrate, in a broad way, the theory of the firm. (III)

5.

Compare and contrast the parallels between physicians and entrepreneurs. (III)

6.

Describe the physician production function. (III)

7.

Compare and contrast the physician as entrepreneur and as employee. (III)

8.

Illustrate the factors behind physician location decisions. (IV)

9.

Describe the impact that advertising, licensure, and payment schemes have on physician income. (IV)

10.

Provide an overview of the hospital as firm. (V)

11.

Provide an overview of hospital cost functions. (V)

12.

Identify a typical demand curve that faces a single hospital. (V)

13.

Describe the mechanisms through which patients, physicians, and other medical staff interact with the hospital in the marketplace. (VI)

14.

Describe the basic types of health insurance with reference to tax effects on individual and group demand. (VII)

15.

Describe the supply of health insurance in the marketplace, with specific reference to adverse selection and cost control. (VIII)

16.

Compare and contrast the two federal health care programs. (IX)

17.

Describe the various forms of government regulation. (X)

18.

Compare and contrast the current health care reform proposals. (XI)

 

 

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MCCCD Official Course Outline:

 

 

ECN280  19946-20066

Health Care Economics

 

 

I. The nature of health care economics

A. Health as a durable good

B. The production of health

C. The productivity of medical care

II. The demand for medical care: a framework

A. Indifference curve analysis

B. The demand curve for medical services

C. Insurance effects on the demand curve

D. Time and travel costs

E. The role of quality

F. Institutional studies

1. Demand for physician care

2. Demand for drugs

III. The physician

A. Theory of the firm: an overview

B. The physician as entrepreneur

C. The physician firm and its production function

D. Economics of scale - group practice

E. The physician as labor

IV. Physicians in the marketplace

A. Physician location decisions

B. Consumer (patient) search

C. Advertising

D. Role of licensure

E. Role of payment schemes

V. The hospital as a supplier of medical care

A. The hospital organization

B. Long-run versus short-run costs

C. The hospital's cost curve

D. The demand curve facing a single hospital

VI. Hospitals in the marketplace

A. Hospitals and patients

B. Hospitals and physicians

C. The hospital in labor markets

VII. The demand for health insurance

A. Patterns of insurance coverage

B. Group demand versus individual demand

C. Tax effects

VIII. Health insurance in the marketplace

A. The supply of insurance

B. Functions of health insurance

C. Adverse selection and cost control

IX. Government health care programs

A. Medicare

B. Medicaid

X. Government regulation

A. Licensure

B. Drug control

C. Quality control

XI. Health care reform proposals

 

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