Questions:
Question 1
Most of the increase in total health care expenditures in the past 40 years can be explained by:
a. Increased real wages of physicians
b. Increased real wages of non-physician health care personnel
c. Increased number of non-physician health care personnel
d. Decreased number of physicians combined with increased demand for physicians
e. Are correlated with real increases in GDP
Question 2
The role of the government as a provider of health care is:
a. Unheard of in the U.S.
b. Always an improvement on private provision
c. Common in the U.S.
d. Only seen in the Veterans Affairs health system in the U.S.
e. Only seen in the Medicare system in the U.S.
Question 3
Medicare, Medicaid, and Medical Research are funded as entitlements by the government.
True
False
Question 4
The GDP in country I is $2,900 per capita-or about $3.3 trillion for all of country I. If country I expect growth in GDP to be about 7% for next year, health expenditures should increase by at least $203 per capita.
True
False
Question 5
If a congressional leader passes a bill favorable to a particular pharmaceutical firm, then resigns to take a consultant position with the same firm, this may be:
a. An example of political interest group balancing
b. An example of public welfare maximization
c. An example of regulatory capture
d. An example of bureaucratic kingdom building
e. None of the above
Question 6
The U.S. is unusual in the developed world in that it uses a general tax to fund health insurance for the elderly.
True
False
Question 7
The Iron Law: Medical Costs = Medical Incomes is the same as the identity specified by health economist Uwe Reinhardt as the Alfred E. Neuman's Cosmic Law of Health Care, "Every dollar of health spending is someone else's health-care income, including fraud, waste and abuse."
True
False
Question 8
All other things equal, if an individual earning $100,000 per year has an income elasticity of demand for health care of 0.4, and her salary increases by 10%, her expenditures on health care will increase by $4,000.
True
False
Question 9
The major determinants of total health care spending are:
a. Microeconomic decisions
b. GDP, population, and inflation
c. National income, population, and inflation
d. Society's elasticity of demand, national income, and government
e. Individual's elasticity of demand, national income and population
Question 10
The Iron Law means that medical spending is almost equal to income.
True
False
Question 11
In the absence of a profit motive, the primary motive of government bureaucrats is so-called "kingdom building," that is, maximizing the number of government employees.
True
False
Question 12
It took about 8 years for the Health Professions Educational Assistance Act of 1963 to show the fully intended increase in the physician supply.
True
False
Question 13
Any research publication which receives NIH funding must be published on the PUBMED database, which is available free of charge to anyone with internet connection. This is consistent with the goal of providing research and knowledge to as many people in society as possible.
True
False
Question 14
One benefit to consumers when physicians pay is restricted is that physicians will compete on non-price factors which may be important to consumers.
True
False
Question 15
Comparative statics are used more frequently than dynamic analysis of macroeconomic trends in health care.
True
False
Question 16
Macroeconomic studies would be more interested in the trend in overweight and obesity in the U.S. and other OECD countries rather than the percent of public spending on health care.
True
False
Question 17
People have a strong incentive to hide their true willingness-to-pay, or valuation, of a public good because taxing officials might use it to get them to pay more taxes.
True
False
Question 18
Benefits of government regulation include:
a. Health insurers have no incentive to address adverse selection in a way that maximizes social welfare
b. Public research is funded
c. Public health measures can be taken
d. Licensure of providers gives patients a level of safety they would not otherwise have
e. All of the above
Question 19
Medicare and Medicaid are both entitlements; however:
a. Medicaid is a form of social insurance; Medicare is not
b. Medicare is a form of social insurance; Medicaid is not
c. Medicare is funded through general tax revenues; Medicaid is funded through a dedicated tax on workers
d. Both are funded through dedicated tax on employee earnings
e. Medicare if federally funded; Medicaid receives no federal funding
Question 20
Provision of health statistics by the National Center for Health Statistics is an example of the government performing its role as provider of a public good.
True
False
Question 21
Board certification by the American College of Surgeons in a particular surgery is one way surgeons can use to privatize (extract monopoly rents from) the public good of surgical knowledge.
True
False
Question 22
Benefits of market activity include:
a. Health insurers address adverse selection in a way that maximizes social welfare
b. Wealthier patients are able to pay more than poorer patients
c. Innovation is rewarded with profits; this provides an incentive for more innovation
d. Licensure of providers gives patients a level of safety they would not otherwise have
e. The poor and the disabled are not provided for
Question 23
The post hoc ergo propter hoc fallacy is demonstrated when:
a. Real spending is less than current dollar spending on health care
b. Income elasticity for individuals differs from income elasticity for society
c. Legislators claim that government actions, such as the institution of Certificate of Need (CON) legislation was the reason hospital expansion slowed down
d. Physicians, lawyers and engineers spend amounts higher than their current income
e. Medical costs equal medical incomes
Question 24
Diversity of tastes in a society makes it difficult to agree on the amount of public provision of a public good that is socially desirable.
True
False
Question 25
Including the tax subsidy for employer provided health insurance, the government provides about 47% of total funds for health care financing.
True
False
Question 26
Macroeconomic studies would be more interested in the trend in overweight and obesity in the U.S. and other OECD countries rather than the percent of public spending on health care.
True
False
Question 27
Your father is unable to perform many of the activities of daily living (ADL), including feeding and bathing himself. He considers moving from his apartment to a nursing home. The nursing home application asks for financial information from you and your siblings concerning how much you are able to contribute financially to his care. This is an example that the shared income hypothesis is being employed
True
False
Question 28
A set of diet recommendations to help diabetes patients maintain optimal blood sugar levels is a public good.
True
False
Question 29
Unintended consequences of price controls are often misinterpreted or ignored by proponents of such controls because the effects take a few years to work through the health care system.
True
False
Question 30
Medicaid is controversial because it may seem unclear whether it is a form of social insurance or charity to the poor. Medicare benefits, socially, carry less stigma as charity payments because:
a. Voters value concern for the elderly and disabled above concern for the poor
b. Voters value concern for the poor above concern for the elderly and disabled
c. Like benefits provided to Veterans at VA hospitals, it is a form of social insurance
d. Like benefits provided to citizens under the British National Health Service, it is a form of social insurance
e. The elderly and disabled are more successful in lobbying for Medicare than the poor
Question 31
If U.S. GDP growth remains at 1.1 % (its 2008 level) for 2009 and 2010, and inflation remains around 2.8% (its 2008 level), then projections of health expenditures for 2011-2015 will be:
a. Difficult to calculate
b. Calculated as growing at essentially constant rates over the 2011-2015 period
c. Calculated as growing at rapidly increasing rates over the 2011-2015 period
d. Calculated showing decreasing levels over the 2011-2015 period
e. Calculated showing rapidly decreasing rates over the 2011-2015 period
Question 32
The role of government is to:
a. Enforce contracts between private parties
b. Provide health services
c. Protect health of individuals against unsafe products
d. Provide public goods
e. All of the above
Question 33
The response of the health care industry to legislative and macroeconomic shocks is delayed due to the lengthy nature of training for many health care jobs, the contractual arrangements for many health care jobs, and the process of adjustments across the economy. This is demonstrated by the following:
a. Unexpected inflationary spending in 1977 was not realized immediately in health care
b. The 1987 Stock market crash had little impact on 1988 health care employment levels
c. The recession of 2001 had little impact on health care employment levels
d. It took over 3 ½ years to realize the total rise in employment attributable to passage of Medicare in 1965
e. All of the above
Question 34
Including the tax subsidy for employer provided health insurance, the government provides about 47% of total funds for health care financing.
True
False
Question 35
Health care market has market failure due to economies of scale in insurance provision which results in natural monopoly.
True
False
Question 36
The Coase Theorem:
a. Suggests that government intervention is necessary for an efficient outcome
b. Is generally successful in assigning property rights for public goods
c. Points out that high transaction costs are a barrier to efficiency
d. Helps explain Arrow's Impossibility Theorem
e. Is an example of how Arrow's Impossibility Theorem can be implemented
Question 37
It is unlikely that health care industry employment will fall significantly during a recession because:
a. Employment in health care does not respond to economic fluctuations
b. Employment in health care lags economic downturns because of fix contracts
c. Employers will hire more part time employees
d. Employers will use less part time employee hours
e. Employment in health care moves up and down with economic fluctuations
Question 38
One negative effect for consumer welfare can occur when hospitals compete on non-price factors to attract patients, all of whom will pay the same rates. For example, many hospitals in the 1990s built home-like maternity suites and served lobster dinners to new birth parents in an attempt to draw patients.
True
False
Question 39
The Iron Law means that medical spending is almost equal to income.
True
False
Question 40
Real health care wages have risen over the past 40 years because:
a. A greater share of each dollar spent has been allocated to healthcare and real wages have remained constant for health care workers
b. A greater share of each dollar spent has been allocated to healthcare and real wages have increase for health care workers over the entire forty years
c. A greater share of each dollar spent has been allocated to healthcare and real wages have increase for health care workers over the past twenty years
d. A greater share of each dollar spent has been allocated to healthcare
e. Health care wages are highly correlated with growth in the GDP