A Health Economics Approach to US Value Frameworks: Serving the Needs of Decision Making

Abstract

Value assessment is an integral component of decision making in health and is the focus of this themed section of Value in Health. The Special Task Force Report [1], [2], [3], [4], [5], [6], [7] considers a range of issues, both conceptual and practical, albeit limited to the US realities (more on this later), that arise in cost-effectiveness and cost-benefit studies of health care—particularly, though not only, in the context of designing or enlarging public health insurance schemes. Settling these is important but contentious. As a start, this themed section includes four perspectives from key experts, representing payers [8], patients [9], academia [10], and the pharmaceutical industry [11]. These perspectives have not been peer-reviewed by the journal in the conventional sense, and therefore should be considered as either personal or professional reflections on the report.