Valuing the benefits of publicly-provided health care: does 'ability to pay' preclude the use of 'willingness to pay'?

Cam Donaldson

doi:10.1016/S0277-9536(99)00173-2

Valuing the benefits of publicly-provided health care: does 'ability to pay' preclude the use of 'willingness to pay'?

Cam Donaldson^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

78 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The case against the use of willingness to pay (WTP) methods to value the benefits of publicly-provided health care is often made on the basis that WTP is associated with ability to pay. In this paper, it is demonstrated that this argument is not so straightforward, depending on two criteria: (a) the association of people's preferences with ability to pay and (b) the disparities of WTP for given options within categories of ability to pay. A method of dealing with ability to pay, based on these criteria, is proposed and illustrated through the use of data from a case study.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	551-563
Number of pages	13
Journal	Social Science and Medicine
Volume	49
Issue number	4
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/S0277-9536(99)00173-2
Publication status	Published - Aug 1999
Externally published	Yes

Keywords

Distribution of income
Evaluation
Measuring benefits
Utility
Willingness to pay

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Health(social science)
History and Philosophy of Science

Documents and Links

10.1016/S0277-9536(99)00173-2

Cite this

@article{688b75d6d4754ea798fec29364a84394,

title = "Valuing the benefits of publicly-provided health care: does 'ability to pay' preclude the use of 'willingness to pay'?",

abstract = "The case against the use of willingness to pay (WTP) methods to value the benefits of publicly-provided health care is often made on the basis that WTP is associated with ability to pay. In this paper, it is demonstrated that this argument is not so straightforward, depending on two criteria: (a) the association of people's preferences with ability to pay and (b) the disparities of WTP for given options within categories of ability to pay. A method of dealing with ability to pay, based on these criteria, is proposed and illustrated through the use of data from a case study.",

keywords = "Distribution of income, Evaluation, Measuring benefits, Utility, Willingness to pay",

author = "Cam Donaldson",

note = "An earlier version of this paper was presented to Health Economists' Study Group, University of Aberdeen, 5–7 July 1995. The author is grateful to those attending the session and particularly the discussant of the paper, Stephen Birch of McMaster University in Ontario, for their helpful suggestions. Thanks are also due to Tracy Mapp of the Department of Public Health at the University of Aberdeen for statistical help and advice, to Vanora Hundley of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at the University of Aberdeen with whom the author collaborated on the willingness to pay survey, and to Gavin Mooney of the University of Sydney, Chris Auld of the University of Calgary, to John Cairns and Mandy Ryan of the Health Economics Research Unit and to two anonymous referees for comments and advice on earlier drafts. HERU is funded by the Chief Scientist Office of the Scottish Office Department of Health. Cam Donaldson is Svare Professor of Health Economics and Alberta Heritage Senior Scholar at the University of Calgary. However, the views expressed in this paper are those of the author, not the funding agencies. ",

year = "1999",

month = aug,

doi = "10.1016/S0277-9536(99)00173-2",

language = "English",

volume = "49",

pages = "551--563",

journal = "Social Science and Medicine",

issn = "0277-9536",