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

Edward C. Norton, Co-chair
Department of Health Management and Policy and Department of Economics
University of Michigan
Ann Arbor, MI, 48109
USA

Email: ecnorton@umich.edu

The Star Alliance™ Members Airlines are pleased to be appointed as the Official Airline Network for the 7th World Congress

To obtain the Star Alliance™ Conventions Plus discounts, please call the reservation office of a participating Star Alliance Member Airline and quote the following Convention Code: CA03S09.

Registered participants plus one accompanying person travelling to the event are automatically granted a discount of up to 20%, depending on fare and class of travel booked.

Lead Airline
Air China

Participating Airlines
SWISS International Air Lines, TAP Portugal, Lufthansa, Adria Airways, Croatia Airlines, Turkish Airlines, Air Canada, United, Asiana Airlines, Air China, Austrian Airlines, Scandinavian Airlines, Singapore Airlines, THAI, Shanghai Airlines

For booking office information please visit: Star Alliance Conventions Plus website

Discounts are offered on published business and economy class fares, excluding website/internet fares, senior and youth fares, group fares and Round the World fares.

Please note: For travel from Japan and New Zealand special fares or discounts are offered by the participating airlines on their own network.

When making your travel plans please present confirmation of your registration or proof of attendance.

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.