Willingness to pay for hormone replacement therapy.

Abstract

This study addresses the question of willingness to pay (WTP) for hormone replacement therapy (HRT) in order to alleviate menopausal symptoms. The woman obtains utility from consumption of goods and health. The purchase of a treatment is represented as a shift in the health production function during the treatment period. The mean WTP for the HRT is estimated using a parametric and a non-parametric method. The mean WTP based on these two methods is similar in both cases and amounts to about SEK 40000 per year. Further, it is shown that the mean WTP is above the mean treatment cost of HRT. Finally, the implied WTP per gained quality adjusted life year (QALY) is estimated at about SEK 120000 and SEK 160000 based on the rating scale (RS) and time trade-off (TTO) methods, respectively.