Course Number & Complete Course Title: PH 7250 – Healthcare Financing

CRN: 87352

Instructor’s Name: Lee Rivers Mobley, PhD

Division:Health Management and Policy (HMGP)

Semester:FallYear:2014

Course Basics / Class Day/Time: / Mondays 1:00-3:30
Class Location: / 320 Sparks Hall
School of Public Health, GSU campus, Atlanta GA
Prerequisite(s): / PH 7160 Introduction to Health Care System
Required Course Materials / Required Text: Health Economics and Policy (with economic applications) by James W. Henderson, 5th Edition (2011), published by South-Western, Cengage Learning.
Faculty Accessibility / Instructor(s) of Record: / Lee Rivers Mobley, PhD
Office Location: / Rm. 716, One Park Place
Phone Number(s): / (404) 413-2338 (infrequently monitored)
Email: / (preferred contact mode)
Office Hours/Availability: / Office hours by appointment on Mondays or Fridays
  1. Course Description:

The course will provide and introduction to health care finance with a particular emphasis onthe various meanings of ‘cost’, andpublic health issues. Students will be presented with the foundations of public and private health care financing, program operations and parameters with respect to coverage and payment, and the role the states play in federally supported programs. The course will familiarize students with federal, state, and local funding mechanisms and outline the tools used to evaluate the impact of insurance programs on the health care delivery system. The problems of the uninsured, health care coverage and access, scarce health care resource allocation, and cultural challenges will be discussed, with an emphasis on learning how or if public and private funding and insurance programs can successfully address such problems.

  1. Course Objectives / Competency / Assessment of Student Learning:

This course is designed to support students in acquiring competence in the following two areas, as indicated in the GSU School of Public Health MPH Core Competencies document.

MPH CORE 10. Identify and critically discuss the organization and financing of the health services and public health systems in the United States, with emphasis on the consequences for vulnerable populations.

MPH CORE 11. Apply evidence-based principles to critically evaluate current policies and practices in healthcare delivery and in public health systems including present and future healthcare reform proposals to address the quality, accessibility and cost of our health systems.

Students in the Master of Public Health program with a concentration in Health Management & Policy will be expected to demonstrate competence in the following areas:

HMGP 1. Demonstrate the skills of effective communication.

HMGP 2. Demonstrate team building, negotiation, and conflict management skills.

HMGP 3. Demonstrate knowledge of strategy development and change management principles

HMGP 4. Describe the attributes of effective leadership and the skills of effective leadership including decision making, vision setting and mentoring.

HMGP 5. Describe the legal bases for public health services.

HMGP 6. Explain principles of ensuring community health safety including emergency preparedness and response.

HMGP 7. Describe alternative strategies for collaboration and partnership among organizations focused on public health goals.

HMGP 8. Apply commonly used frameworks for policy analysis to prominent, contemporary public health issues.

HMGP 9. Utilize theories of policymaking to develop policy proposals that address public health challenges.

HMGP 10. Demonstrate application of economic principles to analyze and characterize public health and health service policies and issues.

HMGP 11. Identify and discuss the main components of the healthcare system in the United States, the underlying sources of market power, and in the context of interlocking market segments and market power held by different players, how these components will be impacted by current reform proposals.

This course is designed to assess students in acquiring competence in the following HMGP areas:

Course Objectives / Program Competency / Assessment Method(s)
Demonstrate application of economic principles to analyze and characterize public health and health service policies and issues. / HMGP 10 / Written exams and paper
Identify and discuss the main components of the healthcare system in the United States, the underlying sources of market power, and in the context of interlocking market segments and market power held by different players, how these components will be impacted by current reform proposals. / HMGP 11 / Written exams and paper

In addition to the above, upon completion of this course, you should specifically be able to:

  1. Write critically and cogently using an economic perspective to examine historical evolution of the healthcare policies in the Unites States, and how they compare to those systems in other developed nations.
  2. Write critically and cogently using an economic perspective to examine current health policy issues.
  3. Critique the various components of the U.S. health care system from the economic perspectives of efficiency and equity.
  4. Analyze how different market segments in the healthcare system are impacted by various policies and regulations.
  5. Understand of the concept of market power, who holds it and why, and how current reform initiatives will affect the balance of market power that exists among major sectors of the healthcare market.
  6. Express cogent and critical comment on the consequences of current health care policies in the United States on health status of vulnerable populations.
  7. Synthesize the perceived issues in the U.S. health care that are driving current policy reforms.
  8. Apply economic principles and knowledge in analysis of the Medicare Modernization Act of 2003, Medicare Part D implementation in 2006, and the Patient Protection and Affordable Care act of 2010, and other reform initiatives.
  9. Understand how the healthcare system in the United States compares to systems in other nations, from the economic perspectives of efficiency and equity.

Course Objectives and Textbook:

The required textbook thoroughly demonstrates how economic principles apply to health care delivery and its policies. The author explains how the theories work and how health care financial systems operate in the real world. You'll develop an understanding of the social, political, and economic contexts of health care delivery, as well as the changing nature of health care. While you explore the changing nature of health care, as well as the social and political sides of issues, you will learn to analyze public policy from an economic perspective. The course syllabus will follow the organization of the chapters in the book, and we will cover most chapters. Additional readings will be assigned to augment the text, and a final report and in-class presentation will be required on a current topic in US Health Policy, or global comparisons of health systems across countries.

  1. Course Assignments and Requirements

Required Text: Health Economics and Policy (with economic applications) by James W. Henderson, 5th Edition (2011), published by South-Western, Cengage Learning.

This course assumes substantial and informed student participation. General discussion of theory and practice is encouraged and expected of all students. At a minimum, being informed requires class attendance, completion of assigned readings and homework, and attention to health care news and world events. Class attendance and thoughtful participation are important and will be reflected in part in the final grade.

Course requirements will contribute to grade as follows:

Issue Paper (due Dec 1) / 30%
Take-Home Midterm Exam (due Oct 13) / 30%
Take-Home Final Exam (due Dec 15) / 30%
Class Participation and Homework/Readings / 10%

Exams and Issue Paper are required to be original work, submitted for completion of course requirements in this class only. Duplicative efforts among students or recycling of work within students across courses will be heavily penalized. This will be assessed using the ‘originality’ checking software available to Instructors in Desire2learn. This software compares across students in all classes at GSU that are using dropbox assignments in Desire2learn.

Issue Paper: Each student will individually submit a paper that is to be 6-10 pages in length (excluding bibliography), double spaced, 12 point font with 1 inch margins (left, right, top and bottom). The paper should be supported by research published in 4 peer-reviewed sources and from up to 6 additional professional sources. Up to 5 percentage points will be deducted if the formatting guidelines are not met, and up to an additional 5 percentage points will be deducted if the sources are not credible.

Papers will be submitted via dropbox in the Desire2Learn system, where ‘originality’ will be readily assessed via the system software. Plagiarism is not ethical and can be criminal, punishable by fines and sanctions in the professional world. Learning how to paraphrase and to correctly cite or quote source material is a very important aspect of your MPH training. You will be able to determine how ‘original’ your work is when you view your graded manuscript in the Desire2Learn system, and what aspects of it are not original. I recommend that you submit a draft of your paper before the deadline, examine the originality content, and then update the paper to be sure unoriginal portions are correctly cited or quoted, before finalizing your submission.

Your paper should include the following sections labeled with headings specifically listed below. These page limits are suggestions:

  1. Introduction (½ -1½ pages)
  2. Briefly describe the topic you are going to address.
  3. Why it is important? If relevant provide a brief background and relevant health or economic statistics as cited in recent literature.
  4. Specifically state the question or hypothesis to be addressed in the literature review.
  5. Literature Review (3-4 pages)
  6. Discuss at least 4 primary original research articles in peer-reviewed literature that answer the question or hypothesis from your introduction.
  7. Briefly describe the methodology and conclusions of the article paraphrased in your own words (please do not cut and paste from the abstract).
  8. In addition to 4 primary original research articles you may describe other existing material from up to 6 professional sources that seem credible to you.
  9. If you discuss primary research articles cited in any reviews of the literature, please do not simply cite the article that cites them. Instead, add a correct citation of any original article that you describe or discuss.
  10. For citations of secondary supplemental articles from professional sources, please include URLs for any articles retrieved from online sources, and the date that you accessed the article.
  11. Strengths and Limitations of the Literature (1– 1½ pages)
  12. Please describe the strengths and limitations of the primary articles cited, paraphrased in your own words.
  13. Please describe the strengths and limitations of the other supplemental articles cited, paraphrased in your own words.
  14. What is it we do not yet know or understand about the topic you have chosen?
  15. What additional research is needed to more completely answer questions related to your topic?
  16. Policy or Practice Implications (1-1½ pages)
  17. Describe the implications of the literature you have reviewed from an applied economics perspective. What principles of economics discussed in this course are relevant for the topic you have chosen?
  18. Conclusion (½ – 1 page)
  19. Briefly summarize your paper.
  20. State overarching conclusion, or if none, what is needed to advance understanding in future research.
  21. References

Midterm Examination: The midterm examination is cumulative and will be a take home test, due at noon of the Class 7 datevia the Desire2Learn dropbox. The exam will be discussed during the class period of Class 7 ( October 13, 2014) and your participation is required.

Final Examination: The final examination is cumulative and will be a take home test. The final is due noon of the Class 14 date (December 15, 2014) via the Desire2Learn dropbox.

Example Websites for obtaining professional secondary papers or articles:

The Commonwealth Fund

The Kaiser Family Foundation

The Robert Wood Johnson Fund

Paul Krugman, columnist at the New York Times

Example Peer Reviewed Journals:

Health Affairs

New England Journal of Medicine

Milbank Quarterly

Example Peer Reviewed Governmental sources:

US Preventive Service Task Force

Community Guide

  1. Grading Policy

Grading Scale:

94 – 100 A

90 – 93A-

87 – 89B+

83 – 86B

80 – 82B-

77 – 79C+

73 – 76C

70 – 72C-

60 – 69D

Below 60 F

Withdrawals: A student who withdrawals at any time up to the mid-point of the quarter will be assigned a W or WF depending upon whether he/she is doing satisfactory work at the time of withdrawal. An average grade of D or F at the time of withdrawal will be assigned a grade of WF. After the mid-point of the quarter, the Registrar’s Office will assign an automatic WF to any student who withdraws from the course without a hardship withdrawal. If a student receives permission to withdraw under hardship, the Instructor will assign a W or WF grade depending upon the student’s work up to the point of time that the student withdrew.

The following is the formal policy at Georgia State University:

Effective Fall 2001, Instructors must on a date after the mid-point of the course to be set by the Provost (or his designee),

  1. give a WF to all those students who are on their rolls but no longer taking the class and
  2. report the last day the student attended or turned in an assignment.

Students who are withdrawn may petition the department chair for reinstatement into their classes.

Incompletes: A student will be given the grade I only if nonacademic circumstances beyond the student’s control prevent the student from completing a small segment of the course—e.g., the final examination. For a student to receive the grade of I, he/she must be doing satisfactory work (an average grade of C or better) up to the point that he/she could not continue. Arrangements must be made with Instructor to remove the incomplete grade within one quarter.

  1. Attendance and Class Participation Policy

This course assumes substantial and informed student participation. General discussion of theory and practice is encouraged and expected of all students. At a minimum, being informed requires class attendance, completion of assigned readings and homework, and attention to health care news and world events. Class attendance and thoughtful participation are important and will be reflected in part in the final grade.

  1. Late Assignments and Make-up Examination Policy

Make-up exams are not provided, except in hardship cases that should be discussed in advance with the Instructor. Any assignment turned in late may have points deducted up to one letter grade for each day the assignment is late or fraction thereof. There is no scheduled make-up time for exams. If a student cannot take an exam, they must consult with the Instructor on scheduling the make-up. The instructor reserves the right to prepare a different exam for make-up situations.

  1. Syllabus Deviation Policy

The course syllabus provides a general plan for the course; deviations may be necessary.

Additional or substitute reading materials may be required and made available to students via handout or other means.

  1. Student Code of Conduct and Policy on Academic Honesty

All students at this University are expected to engage in academic pursuits on their won with complete honesty and integrity. Any student found guilty of dishonesty in any phase of academic work will be subject to disciplinary action. The complete Academic Honesty policy is located in the GSU Graduate Catalog, Section 1350: Students and faculty are expected to review and conform to the university’s policy on academic honesty. Information on the Student Code of Conduct and related policies and procedures are available at:

Special attention should be paid to the sections on plagiarism and multiple submissions:

Plagiarism. Plagiarism is defined as, “appropriating and putting forth as one’s own the ideas, language, or designs of another” (The Living Webster, 1975) – and it is strictly forbidden. Written and oral presentations must be a student’s own work. Students plagiarizing or cheating in any form will face disciplinary action which could result in an “F” in this course and suspension or expulsion from the University. Copying from written materials, presentations, websites, etc. without source acknowledgment and referencing is plagiarism. Read it, appreciate it, learn from it, and make sure you source it – and then reflect it with your own thoughts and words! If you are uncertain about what constitutes plagiarism, please contact the instructor.

Multiple Submissions.It is a violation of academic honesty to submit substantial portions of the same work for credit more than once without the explicit consent of the faculty member(s) to whom the material is submitted for additional credit. In cases in which there is a natural development of research or knowledge in a sequence of courses, use of prior work may be desirable, even required; however, the student is responsible for indicating in writing, as a part of such use, that the current work submitted for credit is cumulative in nature.

  1. Disability Accommodations Policy

Students who wish to request accommodation for a disability may do so by registering with the GSU Office of Disability Services. Students may only be accommodated upon issuance by the Office of Disability Services of a signed Accommodation Plan and are responsible for providing a copy of that plan to instructors of all classes in which an accommodation is sought. The Office of Disability Services is located in the GSU Student Center, Suite 230 and online here:

  1. Course Evaluations Statement

Your constructive assessment of this course plays an indispensable role in shaping education at Georgia State. Upon completing this course, please take time to fill out the online course evaluation.

  1. Career Services

The School of Public Health provides career services & student leadership opportunities (student clubs & organizations) to all current SPH students and alumni. SPH Career Services can help students with resume writing, interviewing, job searching, internship development, and professional networking. Students are invited to attend our career events and workshops, and individualized career counseling appointments can be arranged. To see what career panels, career fairs, and events are available this semester, please visit: The SPH Career Services office is co-located with the Office of Academic Assistance in room 640 at One Park Place.