Time preferences for health gains: An empirical investigation

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to elicit the implied discount rates to be used in economic evaluations of health care programmes. The paper presents results from two Norwegian surveys in which a random sample of the population and a sample of health planners were asked to prioritise between alternative health care programmes, and make trade-offs between future health gains and more immediate gains. The questionnaire had four hypothetical choice situations; two for life saving and two for health improvement.