HSH763 - Financing Health Care
Unit details
| Year: | 2024 unit information |
|---|---|
| Enrolment modes: | Trimester 3: Online |
| Credit point(s): | 1 |
| EFTSL value: | 0.125 |
| Unit Chair: | Trimester 3: Suzanne Robinson |
| Prerequisite: | HSH717 or MPE781 |
| Corequisite: | Nil |
| Incompatible with: | Nil |
| Typical study commitment: | Students will on average spend 150 hours over the teaching period undertaking the teaching, learning and assessment activities for this unit. This will include educator guided online learning activities within the unit site. |
| Educator-facilitated (scheduled) learning activities - online unit enrolment: | Students have the option to: |
Content
How societies pay for health care and how many resources are devoted to health and health care can affect individual access to health care; and impact on both health inequalities and population health. As a policy instrument, health financing is about raising sufficient funds in a fair and equitable way; pooling financial resources across population groups to minimise the impact of illness; and creating a legislative framework to support an equitable and efficient use of public funds. This subject will explore alternative mechanisms for financing health care, including collecting revenue, pooling funds, purchasing services from providers and the role of the prevailing policy framework.
Broadly there are two approaches to health care financing: (i) government financed systems and (ii) market-based systems. However, in contemporary health systems this distinction is blurred with market-based incentives influencing predominantly government financed healthcare; output-based funding for hospitals and pay-for-performance (P4P) models are examples of this. Insurance, whether universal or private, provides a further layer of complexity.
Any payment system is affected by how the incentives underlying payment, including the existence of insurance, influence individual behaviour; and in health care funding incentives influence the behaviour of both consumers and providers. We will analyse the strengths and weaknesses of different financing and policy options from an economic perspective. The subject will draw on both Australian and international examples of healthcare financing policy.
| ULO | These are the Learning Outcomes (ULO) for this unit. At the completion of this unit, successful students can: | Deakin Graduate Learning Outcomes |
|---|---|---|
| ULO1 | Explain the differences between the two broad approaches to financing health care – market-based and government financed systems. | GLO1: Discipline-specific knowledge and capabilities |
| ULO2 | Critically assess the alternative options for paying for health services with respect to incentives on providers and consumers, equity and access, efficiency and sustainability. | GLO1: Discipline-specific knowledge and capabilities |
| ULO3 | Analyse the alternative methods of raising revenue for health care, including taxation, the role of private contributions and insurance. | GLO1: Discipline-specific knowledge and capabilities |
| ULO4 | Discuss the role of health insurance, including decisions about whom to cover, what services to cover, and how much of the cost of a service to cover. | GLO1: Discipline-specific knowledge and capabilities |
| ULO5 | Evaluate the impact of price on the demand and supply of healthcare services. | GLO1: Discipline-specific knowledge and capabilities |
Assessment
Trimester 2:| Assessment description | Student output | Grading and weighting (% total mark for unit) | Indicative due week |
|---|---|---|---|
| Assessment 1: Written exercises posted to all students enrolled in the unit via the unit discussion board | 5 exercises, approximately 500 words each | 50% |
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| Assessment 2: Essay | 2500 words | 50% |
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The assessment due weeks provided may change. The Unit Chair will clarify the exact assessment requirements, including the due date, at the start of the teaching period.
Learning Resource
The texts and reading list for the unit can be found on the University Library via the link below: HSH763 Note: Select the relevant trimester reading list. Please note that a future teaching period's reading list may not be available until a month prior to the start of that teaching period so you may wish to use the relevant trimester's prior year reading list as a guide only.
Unit Fee Information
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