What if prevention doesn't save money? - The Washington Post - 0 views
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idea that preventive health care saves money is among the most ubiquitous and bipartisan health policy ideas out there.
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“Prevention vs. Treatment,” a new book edited by Halley Faust, president-elect of the American College of Preventive Medicine, and Pacific Lutheran University’s Paul Menzel
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A chapter by Louise Russell of Rutgers University stands out in challenging much of our political and policy discourse around preventive health.
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she draws heavily on research of Tufts’ Joshua Cohen, who crunched the numbers on the cost-effectiveness of 279 interventions that range from colonoscopies to smoking cessation programs
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Only 20 percent of those regularly used preventive measures are “cost saving,” reducing costs while improving the quality of health, the research found. The rest tend to buy improved health care but do so at a cost.
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Slate’s Matt Yglesias pursued a similar argument this week, suggesting that the cost-saving argument isn’t always prevention’s best political defense.