Aaron YelowitzApplied economist · University of Kentucky
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Historical

ECO 499 · Fall 2025

Economics Seminar

Historical syllabus; policies and dates reflect this term.

Archived syllabus. Policies, dates, assignments, and readings reflect Fall 2025.

Course information

ECO 499-001: Health Economics University of Kentucky Fall Semester 2025 3.0 Credits TR/9:30 am – 10:45 am Eastern Time/B&E 191

Instructor Information

Professor Aaron Yelowitz Office: 225H B&E Building Email: aaron@uky.edu; if possible, please communicate with me through the Canvas email interface as it is easier for me to keep track of communication. Under normal circumstances, I will respond within 24 hours. Office hours: Tuesday/Thursday, 1 pm-2:30 pm Eastern Time (also, usually available one-on-one by Zoom on other days; please schedule in advance).

Course Description

Readings, research, and discussion in a seminar format to illuminate problems of historical and contemporary interest in areas of special faculty competence.

Course Prerequisites

ECO 391, ECO 401, and ECO 402 or equivalent.

Required Materials

  1. There will be both academic and popular readings, available on the web or through Canvas.
  2. There will be class supplements and sample problems, distributed prior to lecture, available on Canvas.

Student Learning Outcomes

After completing this course, the student will be able to:

  1. Identify the major features of the health care system in the United States.
  2. Contrast how health care markets differ from other economic markets.
  3. Apply data to examine how health care markets operate.
  4. Analyze whether empirical findings from data application are consistent with theory.
  5. Integrate economic theory and empirical analysis to understand health care markets.
  6. Assess whether health care policy proposals will have the intended consequences.

Activities, Exams, and Grading Scheme

Course Assignments

  • Tutorials (10%): Open-book/open-note/untimed, on Canvas (anticipated weekly)
  • Quizzes (15%): Closed-book/closed-note/timed, on Canvas using Respondus Monitor.
  • Term paper (25%): You will upload your paper onto Canvas.
  • Midterm (25%): Closed-book/closed-note/timed, on Canvas using Respondus Monitor.
  • Final (25%): Closed-book/closed-note/timed, on Canvas using Respondus Monitor.
  • Extra credit: From time to time, extra credit may be offered. It will truly be “extra” – it won’t affect the course scale / grades and will be added only at the end of the semester after the grading scale is determined.

Summary Description of Course Assignments

Note: regardless of the points assigned to a Canvas tutorial or quiz, each tutorial will count equally towards the 10% component of the letter grade, and similarly each quiz will count equally towards the 15% component of the letter grade. For example, if tutorial #1 has 8 points (8 questions) and tutorial #2 has 4 points (4 questions), they will be rescaled so they each count equally. The aggregate totals presented on Canvas do not accurately represent the weighting scheme.

In addition, several ungraded practice quizzes using Respondus Monitor will be given prior to the very first quiz, as well as before the midterm and final (with questions like: “What is the first letter of the alphabet”, or a graphical picture), where the only intent is to make sure that your technology is working correctly. These are required but do not count towards your letter grade.

  • 10%: Open-book/open-note Canvas tutorial: You will be permitted to take the tutorial as many times as you want during the window that it is open. These will typically be assigned on Fridays.
  • 15%: At least 5 quizzes will be given during the semester. Graded quizzes on Canvas will be based on class lectures and any online videos. You will have a 24-hour window to complete the quiz, and quizzes will be announced at least one day in advance. They will be proctored using Respondus Monitor. Related to academic integrity, you may not discuss quiz questions with other students until the quiz is reviewed in class or online video.
  • 25%: Term paper. You will be assigned a term paper on Thursday, October 23, 2025. It will be due Tuesday, December 2, 2025, by 4 pm. Further instructions will be given later.
  • 25%: Midterm. The midterm will be given online on Canvas, and will be proctored using Respondus Monitor, and you will have a 24-hour window on Tuesday, October 21, 2025 (Eastern Time). There will be no in-person meeting on the day of the midterm.
  • 25%: Final. The final will be given online on Canvas, will be proctored using Respondus Monitor and you will have a 24-hour window on Thursday, December 18, 2025 (Eastern Time). There will be no in-person meeting on the day of the final.

Technology concerns: Although proctored Canvas exams with Respondus Monitor will likely work for almost all the students enrolled in ECO 499, if your situation makes this arrangement infeasible, please contact me as soon as possible so that we can make alternative arrangements. I can be reached at aaron@uky.edu.

Submission of Assignments

Any assignments will be submitted via Canvas or other online means that will be detailed later. For students with an excused absence, alternative arrangements will be made if submission cannot be met by the deadline. For students with an unexcused absence, late assignments will not be accepted. There will be no assigned homework; however, practice problems will be distributed on Canvas. These problems will help you prepare for the quizzes and exams.

Grading Scheme

A grading curve will be applied; historically, approximately 30% of students earn an A; 50% earn a B; and 20% earn a C or lower. Mid-term grades will be posted in myUK by the deadline established in the Academic Calendar.

Attendance Policy

Students are strongly encouraged to attend every lecture and review the assigned lecture notes in advance. Many of the readings – especially the academic readings – will be easier to understand with attendance. However, no credit will be given for attendance.

AI Use - Level 2: Conditional Use In this class, you may use generative AI tools as a supplement to your own effort, but only within clear guidelines. Acceptable uses include brainstorming ideas, creating outlines, and checking grammar on a completed draft. Use of AI for generating substantial portions of your final text is not permitted. You must clearly acknowledge any use of AI in your submissions by adding a note describing what tool was used and how. Furthermore, if the AI provides specific text, analysis, or data that you incorporate, you must cite it as you would any source. You are responsible for verifying the correctness of all AI-generated content. Any use of AI that is not disclosed or exceeds the permitted uses will be considered academic misconduct. If you have any questions about what is allowed, please ask me in advance. Students can sign up for the no-cost web versions of tools such as ChatGPT, Gemini, and Claude, and every @uky.edu account includes Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat (available at m365.cloud.microsoft/chat).

Academic Policy Statements A full list of UK academic policies is available at https://provost.uky.edu/proposals/guidancecourse-proposals/standard-academic-policy-statements (updated link). This covers Excused Absences and Acceptable Excuses, Religious Observances, Verification of Absences, Making Up Graded Work, Excused Absences for Military Duties, Unexcused Absences, Prep Days and Reading Days, Homework During Finals Week, Accommodations Due to Disability, Non-Discrimination Statement and Title IX Information, and Regular and Substantive Interactions.

Academic Offenses (Cheating, Plagiarism, and Falsification or Misuse of Academic Records) UK policies on academic offenses are available at https://provost.uky.edu/proposals/guidance-course-proposals/academic-offenses. For a thorough description of “plagiarism,” see https://ombud.uky.edu/students/what-plagiarism. For a thorough description of “cheating,” see https://ombud.uky.edu/students/what-cheating.

Resources The university offers a variety of resources available to students. Visti the Office of Student Success ( https://studentsuccess.uky.edu/get-help )to access the full list.

Classroom Emergency Preparedness and Response

Please see the following link for information related to emergency reporting and action: https://provost.uky.edu/curriculumproposals/syllabus-information.

Course Schedule, Economics 499-001, Fall 2025

I. Overview of the U.S. Healthcare System a. Gruber, J., Public Finance and Public Policy, 2005. “Health Insurance I: Health Economics and Private Health Insurance,” Chapter 15. b. Gruber, J., Public Finance and Public Policy, 2005. “Health Insurance II: Medicare, Medicaid, and Health Care Reform,” Chapter 16. c. Garber, A., and Skinner, J., 2008. “Is American Health Care Uniquely Inefficient?” Journal of Economic Perspectives, 22(4): 27-50.

II. Economics of Insurance Markets a. Gruber, J., Public Finance and Public Policy, 2005. “Social Insurance: The New Function of Government,” Chapter 12. b. Cutler, D., and Reber, S., 1998. “Paying for Health Insurance: The Trade-Off between Competition and Adverse Selection.” Quarterly Journal of Economics, 113(2): 433-466. c. Buchmueller, T. and DiNardo, J., 2002. “Did Community Rating Induce an Adverse Selection Death Spiral? Evidence from New York, Pennsylvania, and Connecticut.” American Economic Review, 92(1): 280-294.

III. Behavioral Economics and Insurance Choices a. Handel, B., 2013. “Adverse Selection and Inertia in Health Insurance Markets: When Nudging Hurts.” American Economic Review, 103 (7): 2643–2682. b. Marton, J., Yelowitz, A., and Talbert, J., 2017. “Medicaid Program Choice, Inertia and Adverse Selection,” Journal of Health Economics, 56(1): 292-316. c. Handel, B. and Kolstad, J., 2015. “Getting the Most from Marketplaces: Smart Policies on Health Insurance Choice,” Brookings Institution. d. Handel, B. and Schwartzstein, J., 2018. “Frictions or Mental Gaps: What’s Behind the Information We (Don’t) Use and When Do We Care?” Journal of Economic Perspectives, 32(1): 155-178.

IV. Health Insurance Reforms a. Courtemanche, C., Marton, J., Ukert, B., Yelowitz, A., and Zapata, D., 2017. “Impacts of the Affordable Care Act on Health Insurance Coverage in Medicaid Expansion and Non- Expansion States,” Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, 36(1): 178-210. b. Courtemanche, C., Marton, J., Ukert, B., Yelowitz, A., and Zapata, D., 2018. “Early Effects of the Affordable Care Act on Health Care Access, Risky Health Behaviors, and Self- Assessed Health,” Southern Economic Journal, 84(3): 660-691. c. Finkelstein, A., Taubman, S., Wright, B., Bernstein, M., Gruber, J., Newhouse, J., Allen, H., Baicker, K., and Oregon Health Study Group, 2012. “The Oregon Health Insurance Experiment: Evidence from the First Year,” Quarterly Journal of Economics, 127(3): 1057-1106.

V. Other Topics: Lifestyle Choices, COVID-19, Disparities a. Gertler, P., and Gracner, T. 2023. “The Sweet Life: The Long-Term Effects of a Sugar-Rich

Early Childhood.” NBER Working Paper 30799. b. Allcott, H., Braghieri, L., Eichmeyer, S., and Gentzkow, M. 2020. “The Welfare Effects of Social Media.” American Economic Review, 110(3): 629-676. c. Evans, W., Lieber, E., and Power, P., 2019. “How the Reformulation of OxyContin Ignited the Heroin Epidemic,” Review of Economics and Statistics, 101(1): 1-15. d. Courtemanche, C., Garuccio, J., Le, A., Pinkston, J., and Yelowitz, A. 2020. “Strong Social Distancing Measures in the United States Reduced The COVID-19 Growth Rate,” Health Affairs, 39(7): 1237-1246. e. Benitez, J., Courtemanche, C., and Yelowitz, A. 2020. “Racial and Ethnic Disparities in COVID-19: Evidence from Six Large Cities,” Journal of Economics, Race, and Policy, 3(4), 243-261. f. Alsan, M., and Wanamaker, M. 2018. “Tuskegee and the Health of Black Men,” Quarterly Journal of Economics, 133(1): 407–455. g. Alsan, M., Garrick, O., and Graziani, G. 2019. “Does Diversity Matter for Health? Experimental Evidence from Oakland,” American Economic Review, 109(12): 4071-4111.