Cost Per QALY Calculator

Work out cost per qaly instantly with clear inputs, formula shown and shareable results.

About Cost Per QALY Calculator

Divides additional cost by QALYs gained and compares the result with a willingness-to-pay threshold, also reporting net monetary benefit.

Formula

Cost per QALY

Cost per QALY = incremental cost / QALYs gained; net monetary benefit = QALYs gained x threshold - incremental cost

Worked example

With the default values below, Cost Per QALY Calculator returns Cost per QALY gained of $25,000.00. Change any input above and every figure here is recalculated in your browser.

Inputs used

Additional costaccepts 0–100,000,000: 45,000
QALYs gainedaccepts 0.001–100: 1.8
Willingness-to-pay thresholdaccepts 100–1,000,000: 30,000

Results

Cost per QALY gained: $25,000.00
Verdict against the threshold: Below the threshold — cost effective at this willingness to pay
Net monetary benefit: $9,000.00
Ratio to the threshold: 0.833

Step by step

1Values used
2Cost per QALY
3Cost per QALY gained= 25,000.00
4Verdict against the threshold= Below the threshold — cost effective at this willingness to pay
5Net monetary benefit= 9,000.00
6Ratio to the threshold= 0.833

Assumptions and limits

The result is derived only from the 3 inputs listed above. Anything not among them is not part of the calculation.
In particular, this calculator does not take inflation, tax or compounding frequency into account.
Figures are rounded for display to 3 decimal places, so totals built from several rounded parts can differ slightly from the unrounded arithmetic.

How these calculators are built and tested is described on the Methodology page. If a figure looks wrong, please report it.

Frequently Asked Questions

What thresholds are used?

NICE uses 20,000 to 30,000 pounds per QALY; WHO-CHOICE historically used one to three times GDP per capita.

Why is net monetary benefit useful?

It stays defined when QALY gains are near zero or negative, where the ratio becomes unstable.