Health Economics

Health economics is a special form of economics. Just as in any economic analysis, attention is paid to benefits, costs, efficiency and equity of actions of economic agents (i.e., consumers). However, health and health care have several special characteristics. For instance, preferences are often situation-specific, consumption of health and care can be context- and region-specific, there is an information asymmetry as a result of the knowledge gap between consumers and health care professionals, there are various types of health care systems each with their own specific attributes, and health in itself may be considered non-tradeable. As a result, health decision makers as well as health-related goods and services deserve a special focus when it comes to economic evaluation.

In this course, students are introduced to key concepts from (behavioral) economics, applied to the domain of health and care. We will apply these concepts to i) understand health behavior, both rational and non-rational, ii) conduct economic evaluations of health, care and health care systems (e.g., through cost-effectiveness analysis and examining efficiency and equity of health interventions), and iii) explore what this means for individuals, organisations and governments aiming to promote healthier behavior (e.g., through nudging, boosting, or regulation).

• Demonstrate understanding of (behavioral) economic approaches to analyse health decision making

• Demonstrate understanding of supply and demand on the marketplace of health and care

• Identify societal issues pertaining to consumption and provision in the domain of health and care

• Apply (behavioral) economic insights to understand and analyse concrete issues in the domain of health and care

• Assignment other (30%) Assignments including presentation, performed in groups (N = 4). The average grade (but not the subgrades) for the group assignments needs to be at least 5.50. In case of an insufficient grade for the group assignments, an improved version can be handed in once, during the resit period. Consult the course coordinator for re-submission opportunities and deadlines. If the group assignments are not submitted at all or are again insufficient after re-submission, new group assignments have to be submitted during the next edition of the course..
• Assignment essay (30%) Essay including peer feedback, performed in pairs (N = 2). In case of an insufficient grade for the essay, an improved version can be handed in once, during the resit period. Consult the course coordinator for re-submission opportunities and deadlines. If the essay is not submitted at all or is again insufficient after re-submission, a new essay has to be submitted during the next edition of the course.
• Written test with open questions (40%)

• McPake, B., Normand, C., Smith, S., & Nolan, A. (2020). *Health economics: An international perspective* (4th edition). Routledge. ISBN: 978-1-138-04920-8 (paperback) or 978-1-315-16972-9 (e-book). Annemans, L. (2018). *Health economics for non-economists. Principles, methods and pitfalls of health economic evaluations* (2nd edition). Pelckmans Pro. ISBN: 978-94-6337-113-1. *Note:* A Dutch version of the book is also available. Selected articles, accessible through links in the course guide or available on Brightspace.