This paper considers two societal concerns in addition to health maximisation: first, concerns for the societal value of lifetime health for an individual; and second, concerns for the value of lifetime health across individuals. Health-related social welfare functions (HRSWFs) have addressed...

Current practice in economic evaluation is to assign equal social value to a unit of health improvement ('a QALY is a QALY is a QALY'). Alternative equity positions are typically considered separately from efficiency. One proposal seeks to integrate these two sets of societal concerns by...

In 2009, the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) issued supplementary advice to its Appraisal Committees to be taken into account when appraising life-extending, ‘end-of-life’ treatments. This indicated that if certain criteria are met, it may be appropriate to...

Cost-benefit analysis (CBA) is a recognised as the economic evaluation technique that accords most with the underlying principles of standard welfare economic theory. However, due to problems associated with the technique, economists evaluating resources allocation decisions in health care have...