Meeting: Tues Thurs 3.10 - 4.30 p.m.  Everson 176

Office Hours:  Wednesday   2.00-3.30 p.m.
                         Thursday  10.30 a.m.-noon.

TEACHING ASSISTANTS: 
A01-A02   Xiohan Zhang   SSH 0136   Office Hours  Thursday  1.00 - 3,00 p.m.
A03-A04   Zhe Yang          SSH 0136   Office Hours  Wednesday  9:30-11:30 a.m. 

DISCUSSION SECTIONS:
A01-A02  Tuesday      6.10-7.00 p.m. and 7.10-8.00 p.m. Hoagland 113
A03-A04  Wednesday 6.10-7.00 p.m. and 7.10-8.00 p.m. Hoagland 113

COURSE GOALS:
The course goals are:
(1) Provide a detailed description of the institutional features of the health care market and current trends in this rapidly changing field;
(2) Demonstrate the use and usefulness of analyzing the health care market using economic analysis, particularly microeconomics, and some statistical/mathematical analysis.
Compared to other areas of economics, health economics is complicated by a lack of information (about what health services the consumer needs), great uncertainty (hence insurance) and payment through third-parties (insurance companies) rather than direct payment by the consumer.

Pre-requisites:
Economics 100 (intermediate microeconomics) or consent of instructor.
Mathematics 16A-B: these are a pre-requisite for Economics 100.
Statistics 13: As health involves randomness and uncertainty (hence the need for insurance) I assume you have taken introductory statistics.
The course will go through a number of detailed data analysis examples. It is very helpful to have taken Economics 102 or its equivalent (regression analysis).

Textbook:
Recommended, not required.
Thomas E. Getzen, Health Economics: Health Economics and Financing, 5th ed., Wiley, 2012.

You can also get by with earlier editions. The fifth edition has the same chapter structure as the fourth edition up to chapter 13; then new chapter 14 is old 14 and 15 combined, new 15 is old 16, new 16 is old 17, and new 17 is a new chapter on ObamaCare. The third edition of this book which has the same chapter structure as the fourth edition.
One copy of the fourth edition and one copy of the third edition will be available on 2-hour reserve at the library.

Supplementary Material:
Required. C. Cameron: Coursepack for Health Economics 132. This includes overheads, assignments, and the readings discussed in class and used in assignments and exams.
The coursepack will be available by January 7 at Davis Copy Maxx (Phone: (530)758-2311 at 232 Third Street - corner of 3rd and University Avenue). This material will not be posted on the web.

Some past exams and solutions are at http://cameron.econ.ucdavis.edu/e132/e132.html

The most important materials are lectures and the coursepack.
I also assume you have access to the textbook if needed, which I understand is expensive. As already noted two copies of older editions are on 2 hour reserve. And the fourth edition is fine and can be bought used on amazon.com

COURSE OUTLINE:

A. Overview of U.S. Health Market
Class 1.  Getzen Ch.1 + Supplemental Notes.

B. Economics of Health Insurance
Classes 2-4.  Getzen Chs.4-5 + Supplemental Notes + Readings 1-2.
    B1. Health insurance in U.S.
    B2. Risk pooling
    B3. Risk aversion
    B4. Adverse Selection
    B5. Moral Hazard
    B6. Rand Health Insurance Experiment

C. Managed Care (HMO's and PPO's) and managed competition
Classes 5-6. Getzen Ch.10 + Supplemental Notes + Reading 3.

*** Class 8  Midterm Exam 1  Thursday January 30 ***

D. Economic Evaluation of Health Care Services
Classes 7, 9.  Getzen Ch.3 + Supplemental Notes + Reading 4.

E. Users (Demand)
Class 10.  Getzen Ch.2 + Supplemental Notes

F. Providers: Physicians, Hospitals and Pharmaceuticals
Classes 11-12.  Getzen  ch.6; 8, 9.4, 9.7

G. Government's Role in Health Care
Classes 13-14. Getzen Ch.14.

H1. Medical Technology
Class 15.  Getzen 5th edition Ch.15.9 and 18.3 + Supplemental Notes + Reading 5.

*** Class 16  Midterm Exam 2  Thursday February 27 ***

H3. International Health Comparisons
Class 19.  Getzen 5th edition Ch.16.1-16.3 + Supplemental Notes.

COURSE GRADING:
Midterm Exam1:   22.5%    Thursday January 30      (Topics A, B, C)
Midterm Exam2:   22.5%    Thursday February 27     (Topics D, E, F, G)
Assignments:         10%       Due 3.10 p.m. Thursdays  Jan 16, 23; Feb 13, 20; March 6, 13
Final Exam:           45%       Saturday March 22  10.30 a.m. - 12.30 p.m.    Comprehensive.

Assignments will be graded satisfactory (2%) or unsatisfactory (0%). Full solutions will be distributed. Satisfactory means a serious attempt to answer at least 80% of the questions. The lowest of the scores on the six assignments is dropped, i.e. no penalty for not handing in one assignment if the other five are graded satisfactory. No credit for late assignments. Academic honesty is required - see below.

Exams are closed book with a mixture of short answer (about two-thirds) and multiple choice (about one-third) questions.
The final exam is comprehensive: about 60% on material up to the second midterm and 40% on the remainder.

Scores are posted at Smartsite. You have one week from when work is first returned in class to raise any questions about grading.
AFTER THE FINAL EXAM IS TAKEN NO CHANGES WILL BE MADE FOR ANY REASON TO ANY SCORES RECORDED ON SMARTSITE.

Course grade is determined by the total score, with weights given above. The assignments are graded on a generous scale (satisfactory or unsatisfactory), so most students will get full credit on the assignment portion. Therefore for most students the course score is determined by scores on the quizzes and exams. To indicate your progress I give a grade on each midterm. But the final grade is determined by summing the exam and assignment scores (and not by averaging the grades).

I follow the department grading policy: "To ensure fairness and consistency in grading, the Department expects that the GPA in Economics 1A, 1B, 100, 101, and 102 will average 2.4. For example, a distribution with 20% A's, 30% B's, 30% C's, 10% D's, and 10% F's could be consistent with an overall GPA of 2.4. In more advanced courses the GPA is typically somewhat higher (2.7)."