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221.652.01
Financing Health Systems for Universal Health Coverage

Location
East Baltimore
Note: Due to the COVID-19 Pandemic, this course was held in a virtual/online format.
Term
3rd Term
Department
International Health
Credit(s)
3
Academic Year
2020 - 2021
Instruction Method
Synchronous Online with Some Asynchronous Online
Class Time(s)
M, W, 1:30 - 2:50pm
Auditors Allowed
Yes, with instructor consent
Available to Undergraduate
Yes
Grading Restriction
Letter Grade or Pass/Fail
Course Instructor(s)
Contact Name
Frequency Schedule
Every Year
Prerequisite

Biostatistics 140.621/622 or 140.651/652 or experience using Stata. 313.639, Microeconomics, or 313.641, Health Economics I are recommended but not required to take the course.

Description
Teaches the financing of health care in low and middle-income countries with the goal of achieving universal health coverage. Built around four themes of financing health systems: revenue sources, pooling, purchasing and provision of healthcare. Using this framework students learn how to evaluate country health financing systems. Progressing through these themes students learn to use metrics related to health financing, use household surveys to estimate some of these metrics, and also have an in-depth understanding of health financing systems of select countries. At the en, students should have a good understanding of health financing for a career in global health.
Learning Objectives
Upon successfully completing this course, students will be able to:
  1. Evaluate the health financing system of countries
  2. Explain key health financing functions: financing, pooling, purchasing and provision mechanisms
  3. Use survey data to estimate health financing metrics like out-of-pocket payments and related impoverishment indicators such as: headcount ratio, poverty gap, and catastrophic health expenditures
Methods of Assessment
This course is evaluated as follows:
  • 30% Assignments
  • 30% Assignments
  • 40% Final Exam