In: Economics
3. Suppose that an individual has two options:
• She can live with frequent migraine attacks for 30 years, valued at a quality-of-life weight of 0.4 per year, without any treatment.
• Or she can undergo a treatment with which she will regain full health, valued at a quality-of-life weight of 1 per year, but live for only 20 years. The treatment costs $200,000.
a) Calculate the incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) of the treatment using the difference in quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs) in the denominator.
b) If society values an additional QALY at $100,000, is this treatment worth its cost?