When It Comes to Policymaking

It seems that the issue of prevention has come into greater focus recently, as the US healthcare system has come under more scrutiny. Most people seem to agree that preventive measures are not only important from a medical and individual-health perspective ("an ounce of prevention is worth a ton of cure"), but could also be key in reducing the massive amount of money that is being spent on health care in this country. Looking at the pie chart above, we can see that 31% of health expenditures are going towards hospital care, and 10% to prescription drugs. While a large portion of these costs are probably necessary and justified, a great deal could probably be avoided by reducing the number of inpatients admitted to hospitals or prescribing drugs only when they are absolutely necessary. Improving preventive practices and screening for "expensive diseases" could greatly reduce hospital visits and would also help reduce the health disparities across SES strata by (for example) requiring all children to undergo screening or health education in schools, and requiring school cafeterias to serve healthier foods etc.