UCLA Professor Martin Hackmann has won the Warren C. Scoville Distinguished Teaching Award for Winter 2024 for his course Econ131: Economics of Health and Healthcare. The course focuses on the economic analysis of the U.S. medical care sector, a major industry with $4.5 trillion in spending, accounting for 17% of GDP. It delves into the economics of health care, focusing on the production and financing of medical services. Key topics include health insurance, asymmetric information, hospital competition, physician roles in patient choices, and government interventions. Emphasizing both theory and evidence, the course covers seminal theoretical models and empirical landmark studies that test key predictions and present crucial facts for public debate. The course covers health care demand, socioeconomic health disparities, the physician labor market, the hospital industry, insurance demand, adverse selection, moral hazard, pharmaceuticals, innovation, technology’s impact on health care costs, and significant health programs like Medicaid, Medicare, and employer-sponsored insurance. Professor Hackman’s profile can be found here.