title: [The Swedish Dental and Pharmaceutical Benefits Agency's willingness to pay for new drugs has been analyzed].
abstract: The Swedish Dental and Pharmaceutical Benefits Agency (TLV) is the government body responsible for deciding whether outpatient drugs are to be included in the pharmaceutical benefits scheme. This paper analyzed all decisions made by TLV between 2005 and 2011 in order to investigate how the cost-effectiveness of a drug and the severity of the disease the drug targets affected the likelihood of subsidy of a drug. We find that TLV places significant weight on both the cost-effectiveness, measured as the cost per Quality-Adjusted Life Year (QALY), and disease severity. We also find that the higher cost per QALY approved for severe diseases is mainly represented by cancer drugs. Drugs targeting severe diseases other than cancer have a similar cost per QALY as for non-severe diseases.
authors.affiliation: University of Gothenburg - Medicine Gothenburg, Sweden University of Gothenburg - Medicine Gothenburg, Sweden.
authors.forename: Mikael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Svensson
authors.affiliation: Socialstyrelsen - Stockholm, Sweden Socialstyrelsen - Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: Fredrik
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Nilsson
mesh_terms: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000191:economics; D003362:Cost-Benefit Analysis; D006801:Humans; D007356:Insurance, Pharmaceutical Services / Q000191:economics*; D055553:Prescription Drugs / Q000191:economics; D019057:Quality-Adjusted Life Years; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D013548:Sweden
chemical_list: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D055553:Prescription Drugs