Priority Setting in the Public Health Service: Results of an Australian Survey

This report provides technical details about an Australian population survey and also preliminary results, it does not attempt to introduce nor discuss the significance of these results. The survey elicited information relevant to the following five issues: (i) Public willingness to pay the full cost of Medicare and to increase health expenditures. (ii) The criterion for the 'value of a service' which should be adopted vis health or willingness to pay. (iii) The importance of medical urgency (the rule of rescue) versus health maximisation. (iv) Health gain verses equity. (v) The inclusion of production gains (indirect benefits) in economic evaluation.