The Economics of Health Care Policy: Shopping Day Joseph P. Newhouse Jacob Wallace and Scott Lee, Course Assistants

Primary Aims of the Course l To enable you to think critically about health care policy in the context of developed countries  And increasingly in the context of middle income countries as well l Note I slipped in the word “care” between “health” and “policy;” there is not time to cover all of “health policy”*, and I will just use health policy to mean health care policy *Health policy would include policy to promote healthy behaviors and classic public health measures.

Primary Aims of the Course, cont. l The following quote sums up why I put this aim first: “In times of change, learners inherit the earth, while the learned find themselves beautifully equipped to deal with a world that no longer exists.” - Eric Hoffer

Primary Aims of the Course, cont. l Second, to acquaint you with past analytical efforts; this is intended to:  Teach you some of what is known and what is not known about health policy and health economics;  Show you how the economics you have learned in other classes has been applied in health policy; and  Show you the connections between policy analysis and policy

Primary Aims of the Course, cont. l Third, to improve your ability to critique the methods of research studies and to judge the strength of evidence for or against a given proposition  In a few years many of the institutional details you will learn in this course and others will have changed, but the methods issues endure  Put another way, that knowledge doesn’t depreciate as rapidly

Other Aims l To acquaint you with some of the relevant political and legislative history of the issues in health policy for industrialized countries l To distinguish where the market seems to work well and where not so well - and what the public policy options are for improving its functioning  But bear in mind market failure vs regulatory failure

International Students l Are welcome, and typically many non-US students take the course l Although the readings are almost all US oriented, the health policy issues are common to middle and higher income countries (with the partial exception of the uninsured in the US) and the methods issues are universal

Slides l Each week I will post slides for the following week’s classes l You are expected to be familiar with the material in the slides before the class session l Feel free to print them out and bring them to class; there are notes in the Notes section of many of the slides

Class Sessions l For each class session you should the course assistants and me 2 questions or issues about the material for that class by noon of the day before the class  These can be issues you would like discussed or points you found confusing in the readings or slides

Class Sessions, cont. l I will base the class session in part on the questions you submit, and your grade will depend in part on the quality of the questions

Laptops, Tablets, and Cell Phones l I do not allow the use of laptops and tablets in class

Grading - 1 l 20% on an in-class final examination given in the last class session l 40% on in-class performance including the 2 questions/issues submitted before class

Grading - 2 l 40% on two class exercises  You write mock testimony on a subject you choose within the topics covered by the course – Around 5 pages, max 6; I will post examples on the course website  You read 10 others’ testimony and pose up to 8 questions in total; you answer some questions in front of the class with possible followup  Grade is based on writing, questions, answers

Prerequisites l HKS API-101 or SPH HPM 205 or 206 or Economics 1010, 1011 are certainly enough  With only an introductory economics course you can get through but it will be harder  If you have had no economics, you should not take the course l Some knowledge of statistics or an econometrics course is also necessary

Fridays l One of the course assistants will hold a review/answer questions session on most Fridays at 10:00 in Land Hall (HKS)  These sessions are optional and will not count toward your grade, but they will be more valuable if you e mail the assistants with questions or issues you would like him to cover  If there are no questions, the sections can be cancelled

The Course Website l The syllabus and a supplementary reading list is posted on the course website at my.harvard.edu (the FAS website); anyone with a Harvard ID can access it l I will not use the HKS or the HPSH websites other than posting slides for the first class

Reading Materials l Are almost all downloadable from the internet  Journal articles can be accessed through the Harvard system, and there is a small amount of material on the course website  The syllabus has links  The chapters from the books are on reserve at the HKS library or you can buy the books

The Next Class l Because FAS and HSPH do not have shopping days, I will have to take some of the next class to go over course mechanics l Nonetheless, those who are here today should me 2 issues they want discussed or things they found confusing in the reading or the slides that are now posted

Class Conduct l Note the rules of class conduct that are on the syllabus l One of these is that you bring name cards; this will help me learn your names faster and will help facilitate discussion