Unit convenor and teaching staff |
Unit convenor and teaching staff
Convenor and Lecturer
Kompal Sinha
Contact via 98506069
Room 420, Building E4A, Eastern Road
Wed 3-4pm
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Credit points |
Credit points
3
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Prerequisites |
Prerequisites
39cp at 100 level or above
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Corequisites |
Corequisites
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Co-badged status |
Co-badged status
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Unit description |
Unit description
One of the largest areas of government spending in most developed countries is health, Australia spends around 10% of GDP on health. With people living longer and societies getting greyer, the health care industry is projected to be one of the largest employers by 2020. These statistics make the study and understanding of the economics of health care important for future economists.
Adopting a microeconomic approach, students are introduced to concepts and techniques relevant to the understanding of health economics. The unit will cover the economics of health care (demand and supply, market imperfections including market failure and resulting resource allocation); the behaviour of agents (hospitals, physicians and private health insurers) in health care; the role of government and the need for government intervention; equity and ethics in health care resource allocation; the Australian health care system; health and economic development; the case of Aboriginal health.
The unit will also help to answer questions such as: What makes health a unique economic good? Why does health need government intervention? Why do people buy health insurance? Why do doctors charge richer patients more than poorer patients? What do hospitals maximise: profits; patients treated or quality of service?
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Information about important academic dates including deadlines for withdrawing from units are available at https://www.mq.edu.au/study/calendar-of-dates
On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:
Name | Weighting | Hurdle | Due |
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Mid session test | 15% | No | Week 7 |
Student presentation | 15% | No | From Week 3 |
Research report | 40% | No | Week 12 |
Final examination | 30% | No | Session1 Exam period |
Due: Week 7
Weighting: 15%
A short multiple choice test will be held during the last hour in week 7. The material covered in the test will be derived from lectures 1 to 5.
Due: From Week 3
Weighting: 15%
For details on this task check iLearn in Week 2.
Due: Week 12
Weighting: 40%
A research report on suggested topic.
Due: Session1 Exam period
Weighting: 30%
A two hour exam held during the Macquarie University final exam period.
Required text:
Folland, S., A. Goodman and M. Stano, (2016) The Economics of Health and Health Care, (7th Ed), Pearson.
The text, also referred to as FGS in this unit, is available for purchase at Co-op Bookshop. A small number are available on reserve in the library. Earlier editions are similar but page references may change.
Recommended reading:
Henderson, J. W. (2012). Health economics and policy (with economic applications). Cengage Learning.
Phelps, C. E. (2016). Health economics. Routledge.
Duckett, S., & Willcox, S. (2015). The Australian health care system (No. Ed. 5). Oxford University Press.
Palmer, G. R., & Short, S. D. (2000). Health care and public policy: an Australian analysis. Macmillan Education AU.
Jones, A. M. (Ed.). (2012). The Elgar companion to health economics. Edward Elgar Publishing.
Culyer, A. J., & Newhouse, J. P. (Eds.). (2000). Handbook of health economics. Elsevier.
Teaching and learning resources
WEEK |
LECTURE TOPIC |
Workshop and presentation |
Week 1.
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Introduction |
No workshop or presentation |
Week 2.
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Economic evaluation in health care |
Workshop 1 and no presentation |
Week 3.
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Production of health and demand |
Workshop 2 and presentation |
Week 4.
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Demand for health and medical care |
Workshop 3 and presentation |
Week 5.
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Population health and economics of bads |
Workshop 4 and presentation |
Week 6.
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The market for health insurance I |
Workshop 5 and presentation |
Week 7.
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The market for health insurance II |
Mid-session test and no presentation |
Mid-semester break | ||
Week 8.
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Managed care |
Workshop 6 and presentation |
Week 9.
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Hospital service market |
Workshop 7 and presentation |
Week 10.
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Physician industry |
Workshop 8 and presentation |
Week 11.
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The pharmaceutical industry |
Workshop 9 and presentation |
Week 12.
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Health policy and regulation |
Workshop 10 and presentation |
Week 13.
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Health care systems around the world |
Workshop 11 and presentation |
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