This discussion paper provides an introduction to the estimation of benefits in economic evaluation. The concept of benefits, as something worth making a sacrifice to obtain, is explained. The issue of what the benefits of health care is discussed. Methods for the identification of benefits are described. Two approaches to valuing human life, human capital and willingness to pay are considered. A more recent development in health economics is the estimation of benefits using Quality Adjusted Life Years, or QALYs. QALY methodology is described. Finally a checklist of questions is provided to ask when setting up or reading an economic evaluation. The companion paper to this, Economic Evaluation of Health Care: Guidelines for Costing, has been published as CHERE Discussion Paper No. 1
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Paper provided by CHERE, University of Technology, Sydney in its series Discussion Papers with number
2.