Alexander Olssen

Alexander Olssen
  • Assistant Professor of Health Care Management

Contact Information

  • office Address:

    Colonial Penn Center
    3641 Locust Walk
    Room 302
    Philadelphia, PA 19104

Research Interests: Health economics, industrial organization, applied econometrics, drug pricing

Links: CV

Overview

Alex Olssen is an Assistant Professor of Health Care Management at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. His research interests are in health economics and industrial organization. His research examines the determinants of drug prices for elderly Americans with a focus on insurer behavior and price negotiations. He is also a Senior Fellow at the Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics.

Prior to joining Wharton, he received his PhD in Economics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Prior to that, he worked as a Pre-Doctoral Fellow at Opportunity Insights and received his Bachelor of Economics (Hons) from the Australian National University, and his Bachelor of Arts in Economics and Mathematics from Victoria University of Wellington.

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Research

  • Alexander Olssen and Mert Demirer, Drug Rebates and Formulary Design: Evidence from Statins in Medicare Part D.

Teaching

Current Courses

  • ECON0630 - The Economics And Financing Of Health Care Delivery

    The course provides an application of economic models to demand, supply, and their interaction in the medical economy. Influences on demand, especially health status, insurance coverage, and income will be analyzed. Physician decisions on the pricing and form of their own services, and on the advice they offer about other services, will be considered. Competition in medical care markets, especially for hospital services, will be studied. Special emphasis will be placed on government as demander of medical care services. Changes in Medicare and regulation of managed care are among the public policy issues to be addressed. Prerequisite: If course requirement not met, permission of instructor required.

    ECON0630401

  • HCMG2020 - The Economics And Financing Of Health Care Delivery

    The course provides an application of economic models to demand, supply, and their interaction in the medical economy. Influences on demand, especially health status, insurance coverage, and income will be analyzed. Physician decisions on the pricing and form of their own services, and on the advice they offer about other services, will be considered. Competition in medical care markets, especially for hospital services, will be studied. Special emphasis will be placed on government as demander of medical care services. Changes in Medicare and regulation of managed care are among the public policy issues to be addressed. Prerequisite: If course requirement not met, permission of instructor required.

    HCMG2020401 ( Syllabus )

  • HCMG9030 - Economics Of Health Care And Policy

    This course applies basic economic concepts to analyze the health care market and evaluate health policies. The course begins with a discussion of productivity in health care and of the theoretical and empirical effects of asymmetric information and market failure. The second part of the course explores several topic areas in the health care economics literature: health insurance and the labor market; health policy interventions; and health as human capital. The third part of the course examines competition and the behavior of health care providers, with emphasis on the impact of policy on competition, behavior, and finally, bringing us full circle, health care productivity.

    HCMG9030001 ( Syllabus )

Past Courses

  • ECON0630 - Econ & Fincing-Hlthcr Dl

    The course provides an application of economic models to demand, supply, and their interaction in the medical economy. Influences on demand, especially health status, insurance coverage, and income will be analyzed. Physician decisions on the pricing and form of their own services, and on the advice they offer about other services, will be considered. Competition in medical care markets, especially for hospital services, will be studied. Special emphasis will be placed on government as demander of medical care services. Changes in Medicare and regulation of managed care are among the public policy issues to be addressed. Prerequisite: If course requirement not met, permission of instructor required.

  • HCMG2020 - Econ & Fincing-Hlthcr Dl

    The course provides an application of economic models to demand, supply, and their interaction in the medical economy. Influences on demand, especially health status, insurance coverage, and income will be analyzed. Physician decisions on the pricing and form of their own services, and on the advice they offer about other services, will be considered. Competition in medical care markets, especially for hospital services, will be studied. Special emphasis will be placed on government as demander of medical care services. Changes in Medicare and regulation of managed care are among the public policy issues to be addressed. Prerequisite: If course requirement not met, permission of instructor required.

  • HCMG9030 - Econ Hlth Cr & Policy

    This course applies basic economic concepts to analyze the health care market and evaluate health policies. The course begins with a discussion of productivity in health care and of the theoretical and empirical effects of asymmetric information and market failure. The second part of the course explores several topic areas in the health care economics literature: health insurance and the labor market; health policy interventions; and health as human capital. The third part of the course examines competition and the behavior of health care providers, with emphasis on the impact of policy on competition, behavior, and finally, bringing us full circle, health care productivity.

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In the News

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