THE IMPACT OF INDIRECT COSTS ON OUTCOMES OF HEALTH-CARE PROGRAMS

The impact of including indirect costs of disease (as a result of abse nce from work, disability and mortality) on outcomes of economic evalu ations of specific health care programs is analyzed. For eight health care programs, changes in indirect costs are estimated using the frict ion cost method, that seeks to estimate the economic losses due to dis ease or the economic gains of health care programs. The impact of indi rect costs on outcomes varies considerably across programs. Indirect c osts tend to play an important role if health care programs produce he alth effects in the short run, if (short term) absence from work is af fected considerably and if a significant proportion of the target popu lation is employed at the moment they benefit from the program. The po ssible induction of treatment related absence from work and disability may also be relevant.