SCHOOL OF MEDICINE AND HEALTH SCIENCES
DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC HEALTH
BSPH 322 – HEALTH ECONOMICS AND FINANCING
ASSIGNMENT (Distance Students Only)
Instructions: Answer ALL questions concisely
Due Date: Tuesday, 8th March 2022
Question 1 (One Page)
(a) Why is it easier to measure the effects of smoking on individual’s health than it is to
measure the effects of anti-smoking campaigns on health? Be sure to discuss the idea of
health care as derived demand.
(b) Use the concepts of management and economic efficiency to explain why a hospital does
not charge more for an MRI performed during an emergency room visit than it does for
an MRI performed on a scheduled basis.
Question 2 (Half a Page)
What is an economic evaluation, within the broader schema of Health Economics?
Question 3 (One and a Half Page)
Health economists often distinguish between the methods of Cost Benefit Analysis (CBA), Cost
Effectiveness Analysis (CEA) and Cost Utility Analysis (CUA). Explain what health economists
mean by each of the three above-mentioned methods. Discuss circumstances under which each
of the three types of methods seem particularly (in)appropriate for economic evaluation of health
care programmes. You may use real-life or hypothetical examples.
Additional Instructions: Excluding references and cover page, Maximum of 3 pages, 1.5
Spacing, Font 12, use Times New Roman.