Health Policy
A formidable range of forces affect the health and well-being of populations in the U.S. and globally. Pressing challenges include access to and quality of care, health equity, the social determinants of health, and affordability.
We guide policymakers and educate students in developing innovative solutions to global health challenges related to health care, nutrition, addiction, psychological distress, and violence.
Faculty Spotlight
Colleen Carey
Assistant Professor
Colleen Carey’s research focuses on the industrial organization of health care, with special attention to federal regulation of health insurance markets. She is a Faculty Research Fellow at the National Bureau of Economic Research. Previously, she was a Robert Wood Johnson Scholar in Health Policy Research at the University of Michigan, a Staff Economist at the Council of Economic Advisers, and a visitor at Princeton University’s Center for Health and Wellbeing.
Course Spotlight
The U.S. Health Care System
Course details: This course examines the various stakeholders of the U.S. health care system and how the stakeholders interact with one another. We begin by examining the role of medical care in producing health and the costs and benefits of new medical technologies (e.g., medical devices, prescription drugs, and new surgical techniques). We then examine the objectives and behavior of key stakeholders in the system: patients, employers, and taxpayers who pay for health care; private and public (i.e., Medicare and Medicaid) health insurers who manage the funds; hospitals, physicians, and other health care professionals who provide medical care; and pharmaceutical and medical device firms that supply products that providers use. Students will also learn how to apply basic reasoning to examine health policy issues, including covering the uninsured, controlling the growth rate of medical spending, improving the quality of medical care, and reforming the malpractice system.
