HMGT 435

READ references

1) Mayer Chapter 8:Imperfectly Competitive Markets

2) "The Increased Concentration... CanLead to ..."

http://www.healthaffairs.org/doi/pdf/10.1377/hlthaff.2010.0406

3) Economic Theory Through Application- 8.5 Beyond Perfect Competition pg. 334-342

4) Economic Theory Through Application - 15.1 Market Power and Monopoly pg. 652-664

5) "How Might Proposed Mergers Impact State Insurance Markets"

http://healthaffairs.org/blog/2015/12/01/how-might-proposed-payer-mergers-impact-state-insurance-markets/

6) Economic Theory Through Application - 15.3 Market with Small Number of Sellers pg. 675-693

1. In this week's readings the Health Affairs article on Proposed Payer Mergers, what does the article say will happen to the commercial insurance market in insurers are allowed to merge?
2. What conditions must exist for a firm to be able to price discriminate?
3. What is the Herfindahl Index?
4. What factors allow a firm to have monopoly profits?
5. What are the pros and cons of merger activity? Why would the government want to prevent mergers?
6. What are the characteristics of monopolistic competition?
7. Why is understanding market structure important in health economics, what does it impact?
8. What is a Nash Equilibrium? Which market structure does it apply to?