Positive ys normative questions ▣Normative questions Does everyone deserve access to health care,even if they cannot pay? Should people be compelled to purchase insurance? When is it ethical to deny care to a dying patient? Should the government ban certain unhealthy foods? Positive questions How much would it cost to provide free checkups and drugs for everyone in a population? Do strict patent protections for new drugs spur innovation? How much would consumers save if doctors were not required to have medical degrees or medical licenses? Would a tax on saturated fat make a nation healthier? Economic reasoning cannot answer normative questions,but it can answer positive questions,and that can help us form opinions about normative questions. Bhattacharya,Hyde and Tu-HealthEconomics Bhattacharya, Hyde and Tu – Health Economics Positive vs normative questions  Normative questions  Does everyone deserve access to health care, even if they cannot pay?  Should people be compelled to purchase insurance?  When is it ethical to deny care to a dying patient?  Should the government ban certain unhealthy foods?  Positive questions  How much would it cost to provide free checkups and drugs for everyone in a population?  Do strict patent protections for new drugs spur innovation?  How much would consumers save if doctors were not required to have medical degrees or medical licenses?  Would a tax on saturated fat make a nation healthier?  Economic reasoning cannot answer normative questions, but it can answer positive questions, and that can help us form opinions about normative questions