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The Article in Brief
Contributions of Health Care to Longevity: A Review of 4 Estimation Methods
Robert M. Kaplan , and colleagues
Background A widely cited statistic suggests that health care services account for only a small percentage of the variation in American life expectancy. However, the methodology supporting the finding has been challenged. To explore the robustness of the finding, a new report examines four methods that rely on different outcome measures, analytic techniques, and data sets to consider the percentage of premature deaths or poor health outcomes that can be attributed to health care and other factors.
What This Study Found Health care services account for only a small percentage of the variation in American life expectancy, according to the report. Estimates from four methods suggest that health care accounts for between 5% and 15% of the variation in premature death. In contrast, behavioral and social factors account for a much higher percentage of variation in premature mortality, ranging from 16% to 65%. This analysis affirms previous findings that health care is only one component of a larger set of influences on health outcomes.
Implications
- The authors suggest that a more diversified portfolio of national investments would generate a higher health yield. For example, spending on non-medical social services for each dollar spent on medical care averages about two dollars in wealthy countries that report data to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development compared to 55 cents in the United States.
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