This course is a seminar in aging and health policy and the relationships between policy, financing, access to care, and quality of care for the elderly. The focus is on health care systems and policy as opposed to demography and biological aspects of aging. Specific topics include Medicaid and Medicare policy; long-term care insurance and financing; workforce issues; dementia and end-of-life care; the culture change movement; work and retirement as it relates to health policy; and cross-national comparisons of health policy toward the elderly. Students will engage in an ongoing discussion of policy options and learn to evaluate their potential to improve quality and ensure access for the elderly to health care and long-term care.
