The Significance of Age and Duration of Effect in Social Evaluation of Health Care

To give priority to the young over the elderly has been labelled `ageism'. People who express "ageist" preferences may feel that, all else equal, an individual has a greater right to enjoy additional life years the fewer life years he or she has already had. We shall refer to this as egalitarian ageism. They may also emphasise the greater expected duration of health benefits in young people that derives from their greater life expectancy. We may call this utilitarian ageism. Both these forms of ageism were observed in an empirical study of social preferences in Australia. The study lends some support to the assumptions in the QALY approach that duration of benefits, and hence also age, should count in prioritising at the budget level in health care.