Willingness to pay for lung cancer treatment

The increasing health-care cost of lung cancer treatment has caused debates regarding the reimbursement of new medications. The purpose of this study was to estimate patients' willingness to pay (WTP) for a hypothetical new drug.

Patients with lung cancer were recruited through referrals by senior specialists from two medical centers in Taiwan. Double-bounded dichotomous choice questions and follow-up open-ended questions were employed to elicit patients' WTP. The contingent valuation question assumed that a novel medication was available, which provided a cure for lung cancer; however, patients would have to pay for this new cure out of their own pocket. In addition, the question was asked as to how much patients would be willing to pay for supplementary hospitalization insurance? Interval regression and linear regression were used to estimate the maximum WTP.

A total of 294 patients were recruited; their mean age was 67 years; 74% were male and 26% were female. The results show that patients were prepared to pay New Taiwan dollar (NTD) 7416 or NTD 7032 per month to purchase this new medication. Sex, religion, income, the Karnofsky Performance Scale score, and having family that takes care of you are significant factors influencing a patient's WTP.

Patients would like to pay less than the actual price of the new medication for their lung cancer. Thus government and health policymakers should consider the ability to pay when making their decision regarding the coverage of new drugs.