This paper examines the arguments for changing the ways that UK drug prices are regulated. In the UK, NHS pharmaceutical expenditures on branded drugs, currently worth about £3 billion a year, have been regulated by the Pharmaceutical Price Regulation Scheme (PPRS) since 1978. We argue that, in...

The rise in health expenditure in the U.S. has generated interest in the determinants of health expenditure at the micro-level; however, individuals may exhibit differential behaviour across different types of health care. In addition, public and private insurance may have an heterogeneous...

The G8 is considering committing to purchase vaccines against diseases concentrated in low-income countries (if and when desirable vaccines are developed) as a way to spur research and development on vaccines for these diseases. Under such an advance market commitment, one or more sponsors would...

In view of increasing cost pressures, this paper aims to provide guidance to national EU policy-makers faced with the challenge of reconciling financial sustainability of health systems with the safeguarding of the key underlying values of these health systems; namely universal coverage,...

There is concern regarding the impact that a global infectious disease pandemic might have, especially the economic impact in the current financial climate. However, preparedness planning concentrates more upon population health and maintaining a functioning health sector than on the wider...

To overcome the problem of insufficient research and development (R&D) on vaccines for diseases concentrated in low-income countries, sponsors could commit to purchase viable vaccines if and when they are developed. One or more sponsors would commit to a minimum price that would be paid per...

Comparative effectiveness research (CER) has assumed an increasing role in drug coverage and, in some cases, pricing decisions in Europe, as decision-makers seek to obtain better value for money. This issue brief comparatively examines the use of CER across six countries—Denmark, England,...

The aim of this paper is to estimate the return to the UK from health sector R&D drawing on the value of life methodology and the work by Murphy and Topel (2003). While acknowledging the caveats arising in making such calculations, not least the lack of consideration given to spillover effects...

The economic impact of serious conditions such as schizophrenia is felt widely. The impact on overall health care budgets can be as much as 3% of the total, but there are also other costs, especially those associated with lost productivity, as typically only about one-fifth of all people with...

We demonstrate a method for integrating environmental effects into a computable general equilibrium model. This is a critical step forward toward the development of improved integrated assessment models of environmental change. We apply the method to examine the economic consequences of air...