Valuing Morbidity Risk: Willingness to Pay per Quality-Adjusted Life Year

We estimate willingness to pay for small reductions in the risk of suffering a range of morbid health conditions using a stated-preference survey fielded to an internet panel that is representative of the US population. The adverse health conditions are described using a generic health utility system (EQ-5D). Estimated WTP is significantly associated with the reduction in probability of illness and with the severity and duration of the health condition. The variation of WTP with severity and duration is much smaller than proportionate, which implies that WTP to reduce risk is not equal to the expected loss in quality adjusted life years (QALYs) multiplied by a constant monetary value per QALY. WTP to reduce risk to another person in the household is significantly larger than to oneself, approximately 70 percent larger for an adult and 190 percent larger for a child