Evaluating Health Risks An Economic Approach [Paperback]

This book presents the techniques for evaluating changes in health and asks whether we are willing to pay the costs for our health care system.A major problem in health economics is how to assign a value to changes in health. This is the first book to present a comprehensive survey of the money measures that are used in such evaluations, and to define and examine them in both a certain and a risky world.A major problem in health economics is how to assign a value to changes in health. This is the first book to present a comprehensive survey of the money measures that are used in such evaluations, and to define and examine them in both a certain and a risky world.A major problem in health economics is how to give a value to changes in health. This is the first book to present a comprehensive survey of the money measures that are used in such evaluations. The author defines the properties of these money measures, examining them in both a certain and a risky world. He evaluates available empirical approaches for the assessment of the value of health changes, and considers measures such as quality-adjusted life years (QALYS) and health-years equivalents (HYES).Preface; 1. Introduction; 2. Some basic tools and concepts; 3. Evaluating health changes in a certain world; 4. Money measures in a risky world; 5. Evaluating health risks: practical methodologies; 6. Contingent valuation studies of health care; 7. Aggregation; 8. Further evaluation issues in a risky world; 9. Concluding remarks on related approaches. This concise and carefully written book adresses what is becomming an increasingly important issue in several field os economics. Wesley A. Magat, Journal of Economic Literature