Use of Economics in Informing U.S. Public Health Policy

The goal of this American Journal of Preventive Medicine supplement on “The Use of Economics in Informing U.S. Public Health Policy” is to influence policy researchers to identify and undertake economic research that generates the key evidence needed to inform policy. In public health, economic evaluation, primarily cost and cost-effectiveness analysis, has been widely used to demonstrate the economic burden of health-related conditions and the value of proposed programs and policies. However, despite the wealth of evidence on the value of public health and prevention, rigorous evidence specific to the policy question is often not available within the tight time window for informing the policy process. The Supplement covers a broad range of issues and methodologic approaches to illustrate the many ways that economics has been used in public health while also suggesting additional opportunities for using economics to better inform and accelerate public health’s impact.

There are 13 open access articles available in this supplement, arranged in 4 main topic categories:

Introductory Commentary

Strengthening the Use of Economics in Informing U.S. Public Health Policy

Setting the Context

How Can Economics Advance Prevention?

Strengthening Cost-Effectiveness Analysis for Public Health Policy

Advances in Economic Methods and Applications

Applying Behavioral Economics to Public Health Policy: Illustrative Examples and Promising Directions

Economic Approaches to Estimating Benefits of Regulations Affecting Addictive Goods

Health Insurance Effects on Preventive Care and Health: A Methodologic Review

Economics and Clinical Preventive Services

Modeled Health and Economic Impact of Team-Based Care for Hypertension

Competing Risks: Investing in Sickness Rather Than Health

Medicaid Pay for Performance Programs and Childhood Immunization Status

Economics and Public Health Programs and Policies

Economic Analysis of Veterans Affairs Initiative to Prevent Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus Infections

An Economic Evaluation of PulseNet: A Network for Foodborne Disease Surveillance

Retrospective Assessment of Cost Savings from Prevention: Folic Acid Fortification and Spina Bifida in the U.S.

Economics and Local Public Health Departments