Worker replacement and cost-benefit analysis of life-saving health care programs, a precautionary note

2014 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 215-229
Author(s):  
Philippe Tessier ◽  
Hélène Sultan-Taïeb ◽  
Thomas Barnay

AbstractThe assumption according to which ill individuals can be replaced at work that underpins the ‘friction cost method’ (FCM) to value productivity costs has been primarily discussed within the framework of cost-utility analysis. This paper investigates the consequences of this assumption for cost-benefit analysis (CBA). It makes three contributions. First, it provides the first analytical account of the overall consequences of ill worker replacement on social welfare and it analyzes the associated compensation effects within a CBA framework. Second, it highlights a double counting problem that arises when ill worker replacement is assumed in the CBA of life-saving health care programs. To the best of our knowledge, no satisfactory solution to this problem has yet been provided in the literature. Third, this paper suggests and discusses two original ways to address this double counting issue. One consists in adjusting value of a statistical life estimations for the well-being provided by future incomes. Another possibility lies in the estimation of marginal rates of substitution between health and wealth so as to directly monetize the value of life over and above consumption. We show that both solutions raise unresolved questions that should be addressed in future research to enable appropriate use of the FCM in CBA.

2000 ◽  
Vol 6 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 367-371
Author(s):  
B. Larijani ◽  
O. Ameli ◽  
K. Alizadeh ◽  
S. R. Mirsharifi

We aimed to provide a prioritized list of preventive, diagnostic and therapeutic procedures and their appropriate classification based on a cost-benefit analysis. Functional benchmarking was used to select a rationing model. Teams of qualified specialists working in community hospitals scored procedures from CPTTM according to their cost and benefit elements. The prioritized list of services model of Oregon, United States of America was selected as the functional benchmark. In contrast to its benchmark, our country’s prioritized list of services is primarily designed to help the government in policy-making with the rationing of health care resources, especially for hospitals


2002 ◽  
Vol 24 (4) ◽  
pp. 267-303 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arthur J. Reynolds ◽  
Judy A. Temple ◽  
Dylan L. Robertson ◽  
Emily A. Mann

We conducted the first cost-benefit analysis of a federally financed, comprehensive early childhood program. The Title I Chicago Child-Parent Centers are located in public schools and provide educational and family support services to low-income children from ages 3 to 9. Using data from a cohort of 1,539 program and comparison-group children born in 1980 who participate in the Chicago Longitudinal Study, measures of program participation were significantly associated with greater school achievement, higher rates of high school completion, and with significantly lower rates of remedial education services, juvenile delinquency, and child maltreatment. Economic analyses indicated that the measured and projected economic benefits of preschool participation, school-age participation, and extended program participation exceeded costs. In present-value 1998 dollars, the preschool program provided a return to society of $7.14 per dollar invested by increasing economic well-being and tax revenues, and by reducing public expenditures for remedial education, criminal justice treatment, and crime victims. The extended intervention program (4 to 6 years of participation) provided a return to society of $6.11 per dollar invested while the school-age program yielded a return of $1.66 per dollar invested. Findings demonstrate that an established public program can provide benefits that far exceed costs. Key elements of CPC program effectiveness include an instructional focus on literacy, opportunities for intensive parent involvement, and implementation by well-trained staff within a single administrative system.


2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. S357-S357
Author(s):  
Britney A Webster ◽  
Greg Smith ◽  
Frank Infurna

Abstract Custodial grandmothers (CGMs) and adolescent custodial grandchildren (ACG) face risk of poorer social skills and competencies due to early life adversities which have downstream negative consequences for mental and physical health. We describe an RCT examining the efficacy of an online social intelligence intervention (SII) at improving the emotional, interpersonal, and physical well-being of CGM-ACG dyads through mutual enhancement of their social competencies. Our SII is particularly valuable for these dyads because it enhances their social competencies and relationships, thereby leading to positive outcomes. Additionally, adolescence is a critical period for developing social competencies, largely through interactions with female caregivers. Our longitudinal mixed-methods approach addresses four aims: (1) Investigating if SII improves social competencies and overall well-being through both actor and partner effects; (2) Exploring moderators of SII efficacy; (3) Studying qualitatively how dyads view SII as changing their lives; and (4) Conducting a SII cost-benefit analysis. [Funded by R01AG054571]


2015 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 344-348 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benoit Stryckman ◽  
Thomas L. Grace ◽  
Peter Schwarz ◽  
David Marcozzi

AbstractObjectiveTo demonstrate the application of economics to health care preparedness by estimating the financial return on investment in a substate regional emergency response team and to develop a financial model aimed at sustaining community-level disaster readiness.MethodsEconomic evaluation methods were applied to the experience of a regional Pennsylvania response capability. A cost-benefit analysis was performed by using information on funding of the response team and 17 real-world events the team responded to between 2008 and 2013. By use of the results of the cost-benefit analysis as well as information on the response team’s catchment area, a risk-based insurance-like membership model was built.ResultsThe cost-benefit analysis showed a positive return after 6 years of investment in the regional emergency response team. Financial modeling allowed for the calculation of premiums for 2 types of providers within the emergency response team’s catchment area: hospitals and long-term care facilities.ConclusionThe analysis indicated that preparedness activities have a positive return on their investment in this substate region. By applying economic principles, communities can estimate their return on investment to make better business decisions in an effort to increase the sustainability of emergency preparedness programs at the regional level. (Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2015;9:344–348)


1994 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 675-682 ◽  
Author(s):  
Magnus Johannesson

AbstractThe costs included in economic evaluations of health care vary from study to study. Based on the theory of cost-benefit analysis, the costs that should be included in an economic evaluation are those not already included in the measurement of willingness to pay (net willingness to pay above any treatment costs paid by the individual) in a cost-benefit analysis or in the easurement of effectiveness in a cost-effectiveness analysis. These costs can be defined as the onsumption externality of the treatment (the change in production minus consumption for those included in the treatment program). For a full economic evaluation, the consequences for those included in the treatment program and a caring externality (altruism) should also be added.


Author(s):  
Matthew D. Adler

This chapter describes and compares the two most important policy-analysis methodologies in economics: cost-benefit analysis (CBA) and the social-welfare-function (SWF) framework. Both approaches are consequentialist and welfarist; both are typically combined with a preference-based view of well-being. Despite these similarities, the two methodologies differ in significant ways. CBA translates well-being impacts into monetary equivalents, and ranks outcomes according to the sum total of monetary equivalents. By contrast, the SWF framework relies upon an interpersonally comparable measure of well-being. Each possible outcome is mapped onto a list (vector) of these well-being numbers, one for each person in the population; the ranking of outcomes, then, is driven by some rule (the SWF) for ranking these well-being vectors. The utilitarian SWF and the prioritarian family of SWFs (each corresponding to well-developed positions in moral philosophy) are especially plausible. The case for using CBA rather than one of these SWFs is weak—or so the chapter argues.


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