This course is not currently offered, please contact the school or faculty of your program.

Course description

The main objective of this course is to introduce the students to the basic concepts of health financing, while building on the material reviewed inn PUBH1103 (Health Systems and Policy). The course examines the role of governments and markets in financing the health system and analyses the basic elements of health financing. This analysis is followed by a discussion of state-funded models like MEDICARE and alternative schemes of financing health systems. During this course the students are encouraged to elaborate on issues such as: a) why are the taxes we pay used to finance MEDICARE?; b) why does the Australian government provide incentives for people to buy private health insurance?; c) why does the Australian government use the Medical Benefits Schedule fees to pay doctors?; d) should the poor and the rich pay the same proportion of their income to finance health care? and e) what sources of funding are available for developing countries to finance their health systems ?