Reasoning Rationing : International Experience of Priority Setting in Health Care

"Reasonable Rationing is must reading for those interested in how to connect theory about fair rationing processes to country-level practices. The five case studies reveal a deep tension between political pressures to accomodate interest group demands and ethically motivated efforts to improve both information and institutional procedures for setting fair limits to care. The authors frame the issues insightfully." - Professor Norman Daniels, Harvard School of Public Health . How are different countries setting priorities for health care?. What role does information and evidence on cost and effectiveness play?. How are institutions contributing to priority setting?. What are the lessons for policy makers?Priority setting in health care is an issue of increasing importance. Choices about the use of health care budgets are inescapable and difficult. A number of countries have sought to strengthen their approach to priority setting by drawing on research-based evidence on the cost and effectiveness of different treatments. This book brings together leading experts in the field to summarize and analyse the experience of priority setting in five countries: Canada, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway and the United Kingdom. Drawing on literature from a range of disciplines, it makes a significant contribution to the debate on the role of information and institutions in priority setting. Reasonable Rationing has been written with a broad readership in mind. It will be of interest to policy makers, health care professionals and health service managers, as well as students of health and social policy at advanced undergraduate and postgraduate levels.

Chris Ham has been professor of health policy and management at the University of Birmingham since 1992. He has been on secondment to the Department of Health since 2000 where he is director of the Strategy Unit. He has written widely on health policy, including books on the national health service, health care reform in the international context and rationing.

Glenn Robert is senior research fellow at University College, London. He has been involved in health services research and health technology assessment in previous posts at Brunel University and the University of Birmingham. His doctorate was on the introduction and diffusion of new health care technologies into the National Health Service.