2020-21 Pomona College Catalog 
    
    Mar 28, 2024  
2020-21 Pomona College Catalog [ARCHIVED CATALOG] Use the dropdown above to select the current 2023-24 catalog.

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ECON119 PO - Health Economics: Applications to Health Policy in the COVID-19 ERA

When Offered: One-time only; fall 2021.
Instructor(s): F. Lozano
The US Health Care System is fraught with many problems. Economics is widely applied in government and the private sector, in the form of Health Economics, to understand and address these widely known problems including how to address COVID-19. Have you ever wondered why health care costs so much in the USA or why pharmaceuticals cost so much? Have you ever wondered how health insurance works and why Health Insurance is a good thing but why so many people are uninsured or what happens when someone cannot afford health insurance? Have you ever wondered why there are so many disparities in health by race and income or why health is better when the economy is flourishing than in a recession? Did you know that African Americans, Native Americans, and Latinos are more likely to die from COVID-19 than individuals who are white? Have you wondered why that may be and what can be done about it? Have you ever wondered whether economics might provide insights into how to address the number of people with behavioral health or mental health issues? Have you wondered what is being done to address those individuals whose mental health has deteriorated due to COVID-19? Have you ever wondered whether economics could be used to reduce the number of people who smoke and vape and thus threaten the health of themselves and others? Have you ever wondered why there was a shortage or providers to treat various conditions or why doctors and hospitals have been devastated financially due to COVID-19 and may close? This course will explain how fundamental economic concepts such as supply, demand, monopoly and market power, risk and insurance, substitutes and complements, externalities, taxation and cost-benefit and cost-effectiveness analysis, can be used to better understand and solve some of these huge and devastating health issues in our society. It also will explain how basic economic concepts influence human behavior and impact personal health through decisions regarding how much care to get from doctors, emergency rooms and hospitals, including during the COVID-19 pandemic.  It will also explain the types of decisions that are made using cost-benefit and cost-effectiveness analysis. Prerequisites: ECON 052 PO .
Satisfies the following General Education Requirement(s), subject to conditions explained in the Degree Requirements section of this Catalog:
Area 2



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