Assessing preferences for prevention versus treatment using willingness to pay

Area of Science:

• Health Economics
• Public Health Policy
• Behavioral Economics

Background:

• Healthcare systems face resource constraints, requiring difficult decisions between funding prevention and treatment.
• Public opinion polls indicate a societal preference for allocating more funds towards preventive health measures.
• Understanding individual preferences is crucial for effective resource allocation in healthcare.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the policy implications of using willingness to pay (WTP) in cost-benefit analysis (CBA).
• To capture individual preferences for both preventive and treatment health interventions within resource allocation decisions.
• To explore the economic valuation of health prevention versus treatment.

Main Methods:

• A national random-digit-dialed telephone survey of 1456 US adults was conducted.
• A 3-stage (phone-mail-phone) process was used between December 1998 and March 1999.
• 1104 participants completed the survey, with half assessing WTP for prevention and half for treatment scenarios with identical mortality risk reduction.

Main Results:

• Willingness to pay (WTP) for treatment ($665) was significantly higher than for prevention ($223).
• Prior beliefs about effectiveness influenced WTP, while cost perceptions did not.
• WTP increased with age and income, but was not significantly affected by gender or education.

Conclusions:

• Societal preference, based on WTP, favors treatment over prevention when health benefits are equal.
• A significant gap exists between stated public preference for prevention and demonstrated WTP for treatment.
• Further research is needed to understand this WTP-treatment preference discrepancy for informed health policy.