Keywords

Learning outcomes

This class explores the political and economic issues involved in understanding health care policy, with a focus on comparisons between policy in the United States and in the Nordic countries. Students will use economics and political science to understand the differences between private and public health insurance systems and examine the advantages and disadvantages in each.

Contents

Health care is a special sphere of policy-making. It occupies a unique place in people’s preferences and governments’ responsibilities. This class explores the political and economic issues involved in understanding health care policy in the United States and in the Nordic countries. In particular, we will address the differences between private and public health insurance systems and examine the advantages and disadvantages in each. We will attempt to address the question of what would be an ideal health care system. The ideas addressed in this class are inherently economic and political issues, and we will appeal to theory and concepts from both fields to build our understanding.

Evaluation and evaluation criteria

Numeric 1-5.
participation 20%, midterm and assignments worth 35%, and one final research paper worth 45%

Study materials

Journal articles, selected textbook chapters

Further information

Number of students (min-max): 20

Belongs to following study modules