Topic 3 Medical tourism and its implications in demand and supply of health care in a country
Essay (maximum 3000 words)
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Check the list of 4 topics in the attachment.
For marking guidlines please see Annex A from the unit guide.
Topics for essay and individual oral presentation
For the essay, you are expected to write at least 2500 but maximum 3000 words.
You are expected to cite and relate your perspectives to references such as
research papers, government report, published articles, and so on. Country level
statistics gained from publicly available database is highly recommended as
further support. Simple statistical analysis using publicly available data set is
appreciated, but not necessary.
Presentation (2nd assignment) will be based on your essay topic. For the
presentation, you are expected to give a talk followed by a discussion with your
colleagues. The duration of the talk will be 10 minutes with additional 3 minutes Q&A.
Topic 1 Role of private health insurance in health care financing
Unlike most OECD countries with universal public insurance, Australia has 50%
of the population holding PHI and at the same time PHI spending accounts for only
8-11% of total health expenditures (like most OECD countries with universal public
insurance!). Discuss the underlying reasons and potential approaches to optimize, if
necessary, the functioning of PHI in the Australian context.
Topic 2 Australia health system trade-off between efficiency and equity
The Australian healthcare system is unique in its design with a complex system of
public and private partnerships in the financing and provision of healthcare services.
Discuss the history, current and possible future healthcare system’s design in the
context of the classic trade-off between equity and efficiency.
Topic 3 Medical tourism and its implications in demand and supply of health
care in a country
Medical tourism is growing phenomenon in some countries. It brings opportunities as
well as challenges in terms of demand and supply of health care. In particular, it
burdens existing health systems of a country in terms of extra workload for the health
workforces. At the same time, it creates opportunities to earn more revenues for the
country. Discuss these issues using a country of example.
Topic 4 Healthcare financing in low and middle-income countries and
achieving universal coverage
In low resource countries, the health financing dependence on external aid
(unpredictable, fragmented and subjected to politics) poses great challenges in
assuring all citizens access preventive, curative and rehabilitative services at an
affordable cost. Discuss health financing alternatives using a comparative health
systems analysis.
Analyse: Show the essence of something and break it down to its component parts, examining
each part in detail.
Argue: present the case for/or against a particular proposition.
Compare: look for similarities and differences between propositions.
Contrast: Explain differences.
Criticise: Give your judgement about the merit of theories or opinions, about the truth of these
facts and back your judgement by a discussion of the evidence.
Discuss: Investigate or examine by argument, sift and debate, giving reasons for and against.
Examine: Present in depth and investigate the implications. [Show Less]