Accountable fertility treatment: An evidenced-based framework for the provision of cost-effective, patient-centred fertility treatment in Australia
Funding provided by the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC)
Prof James Raymer is the Chief Investigator at ANU as part of a team which includes researchers from University of New South Wales and The University of Adelaide.
The use of fertility treatments has more than doubled in Australia over the last decade. New types and applications of assisted reproductive technologies (ART) and non-ART treatments continue to pass into practice without consideration of their economic implications. Furthermore, there is a lack of knowledge about underlying and projected demand for treatment and the value that society and the individual places on fertility treatment in terms of their preferences and willingness to pay for funding. Australia has the most supportive funding model for ART in the world through Medicare, yet little policy analysis has been undertaken.
This project will fill this policy vacuum by developing an evidence-based framework for cost-effective, patient-centred fertility treatment in Australia. In achieving this framework, the following aims will be met:
- Develop a model to estimate current and projected demand for fertility treatments in Australia; by age, socio-economic status and partner-status (the Australian Fertility Demand Model, AFerM).
- Evaluate the cost-effectiveness of alternate clinical pathways and Medicare eligibility criteria for fertility treatment in Australia.
- Assess the societal and individual value (willingness to pay) for fertility treatments according to patient characteristics and social family structures.
- Quantify the fiscal impact on Medicare and patient out-of-pocket expenses of altering Medicare eligibility criteria for fertility treatment. This project assembles an expert team led by the leading international expert on the health economics of fertility treatments. It will provide a significant evidence base and consistent set of transparent decision rules for immediate policy development.