Resources Repository
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ArticlePublication 2022Emerging Therapies for COVID-19: The Value of Information From More Clinical Trials
The COVID-19 pandemic necessitated time-sensitive policy and implementation decisions regarding new therapies in the face …
The COVID-19 pandemic necessitated time-sensitive policy and implementation decisions regarding new therapies in the face of uncertainty. This study aimed to quantify consequences of approving therapies or pursuing further research. The authors used a cohort state-transition model for hospitalized patients with COVID-19 to estimate quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs) and costs associated with multiple drug regimens and usual care. For each they assessed immediate approval, use only in research, emergency use authorization or reject. They conducted cost-effectiveness…
Benefit-Cost Analysis | Value of Information | North America | State-Transition | Infectious Diseases | Policy/Regulation | Economics/Finance | Europe -
ArticlePublication 2014Evaluation of FDA Benefit-Cost Analysis of Graphic Warning Labels
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is required to do a regulatory impact analysis assessing …
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is required to do a regulatory impact analysis assessing the costs and benefits of its tobacco products and other regulations. This paper provides a critical review of the approach the FDA used in its proposed and final graphic warning label rule, and includes recommendations on how to improve the analysis in ways that account for the differences between tobacco use and consumption of most consumer products. To date, FDA…
Benefit-Cost Analysis | Costing Methods | North America | Chronic Disease/Risk | Policy/Regulation | Government/Law | Health/Medicine -
ArticlePublication 2023Benefits and Costs of COVID-19 Vaccine Mandates
Written mid-pandemic, this article evaluates the direct costs and health benefits of requiring COVID-19 vaccinations …
Written mid-pandemic, this article evaluates the direct costs and health benefits of requiring COVID-19 vaccinations for U.S. federal employees and healthcare and private sector workers. These mandates were controversial and some were halted by litigation. If they had been implemented as intended, the net benefits would depend on the course of the pandemic. If a more transmissible variant (such as Omicron) emerges, the net benefits may be large. If the pandemic instead fades, the benefits…
Benefit-Cost Analysis | North America | Mathematical Models | State-Transition | Infectious Diseases | Policy/Regulation | Business/Industry | Economics/Finance | Government/Law | Health/Medicine -
ArticlePublication 2022COVID-19 Response: The Need for Economic Evaluation
COVID-19-related policies are fraught with trade-offs. Many of these trade-offs involve dimensions that can be …
COVID-19-related policies are fraught with trade-offs. Many of these trade-offs involve dimensions that can be quantitatively weighed using economic evaluation, such as those between health and cost outcomes. Other types of dimensions, such as those involving equity or autonomy, can be harder to quantify but should be considered in a comprehensive health policy decision-making context nonetheless. The authors of this New England Journal of Medicine Perspectives article outline how methods of economic evaluation and decision…
Benefit-Cost Analysis | North America | Priority Setting/Ethics | Cost-Effectiveness Analysis | Infectious Diseases | Policy/Regulation | Economics/Finance | Health/Medicine | Global -
ArticlePublication 2021BMI-Related Healthcare Costs in the U.S.
This paper estimates continuous body mass index (BMI) related health care expenditures using data from …
This paper estimates continuous body mass index (BMI) related health care expenditures using data from the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS) 2011-2016, adjusting BMI for self-report bias and controlling for potential confounding between BMI and medical expenditures. Costs are reported in $US 2019. The analysis found a J-shaped curve of medical expenditures by BMI, with higher costs for females and the lowest expenditures occurring at a BMI of 20.5 for adult females and 23.5 for…
Costing Methods | North America | Child/Nutrition | Chronic Disease/Risk -
ArticlePublication 2021COVID and the Age–VSL Relationship
In this article, the researchers explore the approach used to value COVID-19 mortality risk reductions …
In this article, the researchers explore the approach used to value COVID-19 mortality risk reductions in analyses of lockdowns and other policies. Many rely on a population-average estimate of the value per statistical life (VSL); others adjust VSL for life expectancy at the age of death. The article explores the implications of theory and empirical studies, which suggest that the relationship between age and VSL is uncertain; these uncertainties in turn may affect whether the…
Benefit-Cost Analysis | North America | Preferences/Values | Infectious Diseases | Government/Law | Health/Medicine -
ArticlePublication 2001Cost-Benefit Analysis of a Strategy to Vaccinate Healthy Working Adults against Influenza
The authors performed a cost-benefit analysis to assess the economic impact of vaccinating healthy working …
The authors performed a cost-benefit analysis to assess the economic impact of vaccinating healthy working adults between 18 and 64 years old with an influenza vaccine. Monte Carlo simulation was used to calculate the direct and indirect costs associated with vaccination and those prevented by vaccination. The authors found that vaccinating healthy working adults was, on average, cost-saving.
Benefit-Cost Analysis | North America | Infectious Diseases | Health/Medicine -
ArticlePublication 2015Three Interventions That Reduce Childhood Obesity
Policy makers seeking to reduce childhood obesity must prioritize investment in treatment and primary prevention. …
Policy makers seeking to reduce childhood obesity must prioritize investment in treatment and primary prevention. The authors estimated the cost-effectiveness of seven interventions high on the obesity policy agenda: (1) a sugar-sweetened beverage excise tax, (2) elimination of the tax subsidy for advertising unhealthy food to children, (3) restaurant menu calorie labeling, (4) nutrition standards for school meals, (5) nutrition standards for all other food and beverages sold in schools, (6) improved early care and…
Costing Methods | North America | Cost-Effectiveness Analysis | Child/Nutrition | Health Systems | Policy/Regulation | Clinical Care | Economics/Finance | Health/Medicine -
ArticlePublication 2015Valuing Regulations Affecting Addictive or Habitual Goods
The analysis of regulations affecting addictive or habitual goods has drawn considerable controversy. Some studies …
The analysis of regulations affecting addictive or habitual goods has drawn considerable controversy. Some studies have suggested that such regulations have only small welfare benefits, as consumers value these goods despite health benefits from quitting, while other studies suggest that information or behavioral problems make existing consumption decisions a poor guide to welfare evaluation. This analysis examines potential utility offsets to health benefits of regulations affecting addictive or habitual goods theoretically and empirically. The paper…
Benefit-Cost Analysis | North America | Preferences/Values | Chronic Disease/Risk | Social Determinants | Policy/Regulation | Culture/Society | Economics/Finance | Health/Medicine