Community Prevention For $10 a Year

For $10 annually per person we, as a country, could invest in community-based disease prevention programs could save the U.S. $2.8 billion each year in health care costs. The savings could take effect in as little as a year or two according to a study released Thursday by the Trust for America's Health.

I first discovered this in the Baltimore Business Journal, where they point out:

The U.S. could save more than $16 billion annually within five years, or a return of $5.60 for every $1 invested. In that five-year time frame, D.C. could save $57.2 million, Virginia could save $385.1 million and Maryland could save $332.2 million.

The report focuses on disease prevention initiatives that do not require medical care, such as increased access to affordable, nutritious foods, increasing sidewalks and parks in communities, and raising tobacco tax rates.

The study found that reducing Type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure rates by 5 percent through such programs could result in $5 billion saved in heath care costs in five years.

Prevention is a loud chorus in the song of health care. While some things may not at first seem to be health care issues, I think we can all follow the logic of needing access to healthy food in order to properly nourish our children. Personally, as a smoker, I'm in favor of the higher tobacco tax. It might help me finally quit.

The study itself is well worth a look, and includes a breakdown of projected returns on a program of this nature broken down on a state by state basis. This excerpt from the report itself helps illustrate why this sort of strategy is important and can produce results that can alleviate the financial stresses that are crippling our system and bankrupting our citizenry:

"Health care costs are crippling the U.S. economy. Keeping Americans healthier is one of the most important, but overlooked ways we could reduce these costs," said Jeff Levi, PhD, Executive Director of TFAH. "This study shows that with a strategic investment in effective, evidence-based disease prevention programs, we could see tremendous returns in less than five years -- sparing millions of people from serious diseases and saving billions of dollars."

In Health Care Reform Now!, George C. Halvorson lays out the numbers on just how much chronic conditions and preventable health issues comprise of our overall health picture. I'll give you a hint. The number is well over half.

SOURCE: "Prevention for a Healthier America
Investments in Disease Prevention Yield Significant Savings, Stronger Communities" 00/00/00
photo courtesy of PublicResource.org, used under its Creative Commons license

Prevention and Coverage: A Malignancy Revealed

This morning, Forbes brings us confirmation that preventative care is a key issue in the ongoing debate about health care reform. The article examines the ominous topic of cancer in this context:

"Having financial barriers to health care, based on insurance status, is having a significant impact on our efforts to reduce the toll of cancer," said Elizabeth Ward, director of surveillance research in the department of epidemiology and surveillance research at the American Cancer Society.

"We could make considerable progress in reducing cancer mortality if we could ensure that financial barriers, such as lack of health insurance, did not prevent people from getting recommended cancer screening and access to health care when they have symptoms," Ward added.

Like any health issue, the sooner you are diagnosed, the better your chances. Being without coverage and having minimal financial resources makes the idea of spending money on screenings quite simply out of the question for many Americans. As with other chronic conditions, by the time a malignancy is causing enough physical discomfort for a trip to the emergency room, it is not only vastly more expensive but the chances for recovery are also drastically reduced.

"We know that the uninsured are 25 percent more likely to die than other Americans," said Dr. Steffie Woolhandler, an associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, and co-founder of Physicians for a National Health Program. "This study tells us one reason why. Many uninsured cancer victims don't get the screening and primary care that would find their disease early, when a cure is still possible," she said.

While important, these findings are not exactly new news. Go back to the top of this post and take a look at the poster image again. That poster was printed in 1938 according to the Library of Congress. It would seem that the lack of preventative care in the United States is, in and of itself, a chronic problem.

SOURCE: "Timely Cancer Diagnosis Linked to Insurance Status" 02/18/08
Public domain photo courtesy of Library of Congress via pingnews.