Including Both Costs and Effects – the Challenge of Using Cost-Effectiveness Data in National-Level Policy-Making: A Response to Recent Commentaries

Incorporating cost-effectiveness data in the priority-setting decisions is a distinguishing feature in the swedish national guidelines. this differentiates the swedish guidelines from its european and american counterparts. the broader perspective is aimed at facilitating explicit resource allocations and priority-setting in healthcare, all in accordance with the three guiding ethical principles stated in the health and medical services act.1 the guidelines consist of recommendations in the form of a priority-setting decisions produced by a priority-setting group (psg) and the work process involves appraising the evidence used as decision support (including cost-effectiveness).