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Ulf Gerdtham. Photo.

Ulf Gerdtham

Professor

Ulf Gerdtham. Photo.

The impact of user charges on the consumption of drugs : Empirical evidence and economic implications

Author

  • Ulf G. Gerdtham
  • Magnus Johannesson

Summary, in English

Expenditure on drugs is increasing rapidly in many countries, and this has led to increased interest in measures to contain drug expenditure. One measure that has been discussed is to increase user charges for prescription drugs. In this article, we consider whether or not raising user charges decreases the consumption of drugs. We also discuss how to judge if increased user charges for drugs are desirable from an economic viewpoint. We conclude that the decision to increase user charges for prescription drugs should not be viewed as an issue of cost containment, but as a matter of balancing the societal costs against the societal benefits of increased user charges.

Publishing year

1996-01-01

Language

English

Pages

478-483

Publication/Series

PharmacoEconomics

Volume

9

Issue

6

Document type

Journal article (comment)

Publisher

Adis International

Topic

  • Economics

Status

Published

ISBN/ISSN/Other

  • ISSN: 1170-7690