The role of formal outcome evaluations in health policy making: A normative perspective

Abstract

Limit-setting decisions can be defined as the withholding of potentially beneficial health care through financial or organisational features of the health care system in question (Norheim 1999). The definition is broad enough to encompass the view that, the withholding of treatment perceived to be beneficial should be seen as a question of rationing. Limit-setting decisions involve outcome evaluations, typically considering whether a health care intervention has a proven effect, what the value is of that outcome, and whether the intervention is cost-effective. The aim of this paper is to examine the role of formal outcome evaluations in health policy decisions concerned with setting limits. The perspective is normative, and the normative position articulated is that of a contractualist liberal theory (Rawls 1993: Scanlon 1982; 1998; Daniels 2000; Daniels and Sabin 1997). © 2005 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.