Please send nominations by February 15, 2009, preferably by email and with a pdf of the paper, to:

Pedro Pita Barros, Chair
Kenneth J. Arrow Award Committee
Faculdade de Economia
Universidade Nova de Lisboa
Campus de Campolide
PT-1099 - 032 Lisboa
Portugal

Email: ppbarros@fe.unl.pt

The International Health Economics Association (iHEA) is pleased to invite nominations for The Fifteenth Annual Kenneth J. Arrow Award in Health Economics for the best paper in health economics in 2007. In order to be eligible, a paper must have been published in a peer-reviewed journal in English in 2007.

Nominations should include a brief letter of nomination and a copy of the paper. Send nominations by email including a PDF of the paper, to:

Martin Gaynor,
Chair Kenneth J. Arrow Award Committee,
Heinz School, Carnegie Mellon University
mgaynor@cmu.edu

or to:

Pedro Pita Barros,
Co-Chair Kenneth J. Arrow Award Committee,
Faculdade de Economia, Universidade Nova de Lisboa
ppbarros@fe.unl.pt

Deadline for nominations is March 1, 2008.

Friday, January 4, 2008, 8:00 AM
Sheraton Southdown

The Value of Life Near its End and Terminal Care
Gary Becker, Kevin Murphy, and Tomas Philipson
NBER Working Paper No. 13333
August 2007
JEL No. I1,I11,I18,I32,I39,J0

Abstract: Medical care at the end of life, which is often is estimated to contribute up to a quarter of US health care spending, often encounters skepticism from payers and policy makers who question its high cost and often minimal health benefits. It seems generally agreed upon that medical resources are being wasted on excessive care for end-of-life treatments that often only prolong minimally an already frail life. However, though many observers have claimed that such spending is often irrational and wasteful, little explicit and systematic analysis exists on the incentives that determine end of life health care spending. There exists no positive theory that attempts to explain the high degree of end-of life spending and why differences across individuals, populations, or time occur in such spending. This paper attempts to provide the first rational and systematic analysis of the incentives behind end of life care. The main argument we make is that existing estimates of the value of a life year do not apply to the valuation of life at the end of life. We stress the low opportunity cost of medical spending near ones death, the importance of keeping hope alive in a terminal care setting, the larger social value of a life than estimated in private demand settings, as well as the insignificance in quality of life in lowering its value. We derive how an ex-ante perspective in terms of insurance and R&D alters some of these conclusions.

We are pleased to be able to provide the Powerpoint presentation and paper for download. Our thanks to Gary Becker, Kevin Murphy, and Tomas Philipson.

• Download Powerpoint
• Download Paper

We’d also like to extend a special thanks to the the host organizing committees in Denmark and Sweden, the chairs, presenters and discussants, all of the student helpers, the Copenhangen Business School and everyone involved in making the 6th World Congress a reality.

Thank you.

As well, during the Monday lunch break (12:15pm) we have two Satellite Sessions:

• Asia-Pacific Health Policy Association

• Guidelines and Economists Network International (GENI): Implementing Economic Evidence Through Clinical Practice Guidelines (CPGs) Internationally

  1. Introduction to Satellite Session.
  2. Australian national priorities and vision.

  A key imperative for GENI is to identify international priorities to establish an international agenda for its work and to facilitate international collaboration. The GENI Satellite Session brings together key note presentations by the World Bank, OECD and possibly WHO about their key priorities. Up to 12 leading health economists from across the globe will participate as Panel members during the session to discuss methodological issues, country specific initiatives and direction setting in light of their own experiences and the presentations by the World Bank, OECD and WHO. Session participants will also contribute to identifying priorities. Further information can be obtained from Dr Kathryn Antioch Principal, Health Economics and Funding Reforms, National Health and Medical Research Council and Monash University on: 0400-446-132. Email: kantioch@yahoo.com.au GENI’s Board members include Professors Drummond (UK), Rutten (The Netherlands) and Nieissen (The Netherlands) and Drs Antioch (Australian) and Lawrence (USA).

From 1:15pm to 2:00pm there is a Poster Viewing.

At 7pm there is a Reception at the Glyptotek Museum (Dantes Plads 7, Copenhagen).

Pre-Congress Sessions on Saturday are “Elements of Health System Finance”, “A Brush-up in Theory and Econometrics Applied to Health Economics”, “Standards for Developing Business Cases of Population-based Health Protection Interventions”, “Risk-Benefit Analysis: Pharmacoepidemiology and Preference Measurement Used for Decision-Making”, “Using U.S. Data on Health and Medical Care”, and “Using the Net Benefit Regression Framework to Analyze Person-level Cost-effectiveness Data”

Information on Pre-Congress Sessions here

On Sunday, Registration for the 6th World Congress in the Copenhagen Business School (CBS) opens at 8am and continues until 8pm.

Two Special Sessions are taking place in Copenhagen on Sunday:

• “Controversies in Health Care Financing: Perspectives and Debate” located at the offices of the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Udenrigsministeriet) at Asiatisk Plads 2. You can download the agenda and further information

• “The Political Economy of Health” which is taking place at the Copenhagen Business School (CBS) in Room s.01, you can download additional information.

Find out more on our Congress page.

Pre-Congress Sessions on Friday are “Health Care Performance”, “Cult, Science and Society: Health Economics and Ancient Greek Medicine”, “Introducing the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE)”, “Comparing Multi-Attribute Utility Measures: EQ-5D, HUI, and SF-6D”, “How to design generic stated preference choice experiments for the MNL model”, and “DRG-Based Hospital Payment System Design and Related Issues”.

Find out more on our Congress page.

Average total expenses: €2400

What is the registration fee used for?

About half is spent on social events to encourage communication among colleagues from around the world (lunches, receptions, coffee breaks), and half on administration.

What happens if there are funds left over?

Usually the conference is budgeted near break-even, with 10% for contingencies. Careful cost controls and good luck often allow iHEA to show a surplus on the conference. Surplus funds are split between the organizing units (in Copenhagen, SDU, Lund and DSI) and iHEA, with iHEA using those surplus funds to help provide scholarships to the next World Congress.

Why isn’t there a student rate?

iHEA provides student scholarships to member universities — the organizations that have built and maintained this international network. Students from developing countries are helped most effectively by targeting funds through the developing regions scholarship process.

How are registration fee levels set?

Fees are set to minimize costs to presenters - who are the most important part of the program - to encourage early registration which helps with planning and reduces aggregate costs (and allows iHEA to provide full refunds to those whose plans must change), and with regard to external considerations. Three primary principles are followed:

1. Registration should be 1/3 or less of the average total cost for attending iHEA.
2. Fees should be at or below rates for similar international meetings (including food & reception costs).
3. Registration fees should rise no more than 5% per year.

Funds from donors are used to assist those who are most likely to need help to present their research. In practice, this means that the scholarship program is targeted at researchers from developing countries rather than reducing average fees by a few percent.

But it seems like it is much more expensive than it used to be?

The operative word here is “seems” (For more on perceptions, one might wish to consult the research of our 2005 plenary speaker Danny Kahneman or the many others who discuss the difficulties of aligning perceptions with external measures). After adjustment for inflation and exchange rates, registration fees are approximately the same as they were for iHEA’s first World Congress in Vancouver in 1996 and, pre-dating iHEA, the Zurich Health Economics Congress in 1990 (Those from the USA may have noticed that the exchange rate has moved substantially against the US dollar in recent years).

Questions regarding costs and fees are regularly discussed by the iHEA board, and we welcome your input. Please write to membership@healtheconomics.org with any suggestions or comments.

Please include:

• The Presenter’s name
• The Presentation Title
• The Session Name
• The Presentation attached in PDF or MS Powerpoint format.

We are only able to accept PDF and MS Powerpoint files.

If you have any mathematical formulae you may want to convert them to graphics to avoid font issues that have occurred in the past. Note that if you are using the newest version of Powerpoint (which comes in Office 2007) you may need to save the file in Office 2003 format.

Please contact Patrick at patrick@healtheconomics.org if you need any assistance with that or if you have any other questions or problems regarding your presentation.