Health Economics Program

The Health Economics Program uses the tools of economic analysis to explore how to make the U.S. and international health care systems more efficient and better able to provide high-quality medicine to all. Health Economics works cooperatively with other Stanford programs, including the Center for Health Policy of the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies, to carry out interdisciplinary research aimed at designing more effective health policies in diverse domestic and international settings. Health Economics scholars have examined how the Affordable Care Act is affecting labor markets, retirement health plans, and existing workplace insurance arrangements in the United States. Program researchers have also studied the implications of aging populations around the world. For example, they have projected health care spending in Japan as the share of elderly in the population rises.