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Willingness to pay for alternative policies for patients with Alzheimer’s Disease

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 July 2008

MIGUEL A. NEGRÍN*
Affiliation:
Department of Quantitative Methods, University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain
JAIME PINILLA
Affiliation:
Department of Quantitative Methods, University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain
CARMELO J. LEÓN
Affiliation:
Department of Applied Economics, University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain
*
* Corresponding author: Miguel A. Negrín, Módulo D. D-4.08, Dept. Métodos Cuantitativos, Fac. Ciencias Económicas y Empresariales, Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, 35017. Las Palmas de G.C.Spain. E-mail: mnegrin@dmc.ulpgc.es

Abstract

This paper focuses on eliciting the willingness to pay (WTP) for policy measures aimed at improving the health care offered to patients suffering from Alzheimer’s disease (AD). We utilize a discrete choice experiment (DCE) approach for the elicitation of the preferences of the general population for three alternative policies: home care, day care centres, and medium or long-stay centres. The results show that these policies are significantly valued across the surveyed population. The monthly WTP per hour of home care is estimated as €4 per individual, while the monthly WTP values for full population coverage in day centres and medium–long-stay centres are estimated as €0.43 and €0.42 respectively. We compare the results of classical and Bayesian estimation methods, and conclude that the latter provide a better representation of the heterogeneity in the sample. The results are significant for health care, as they enable policymakers to identify the social demand for such services, as well as the relative economic values placed on the alternative policy measures.

Type
Articles
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2008

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