An Ounce of Prevention
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 4029424 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Joseph P Newhouse (0000-0001-5837-3203, Joseph P. Newhouse is John D. MacArthur Professor of Health Policy and Management, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts and Research Associate, National Bureau of Economic Research, Cambridge, Massachusetts. His e-mail address is ., corresponding author) |
| Year | 2021 |
| Volume | 35 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 101-118 |
| Publication date | 2021-05-01 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | The Journal of Economic Perspectives (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0895-3309 • E-ISSN: 1944-7965 |
| Publisher | American Economic Association (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.1257/jep.35.2.101 |
| OpenAlex | W3043772249 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 5 |
| References cited | 7 |
I look at prevention through an economic lens and make three main points. First, those advocating preventive measures are often asked how much money a given measure saves. This question is misguided. Rather, preventive measures can be thought of as insurance, with a certain cost in the present that may or may not pay off in the future. In fact, although most medical preventive measures improve expected health, they do not save money. Various lifestyle and early childhood interventions, however, may both save money and improve health. Second, preventive measures, including medical and life style measures, are heterogeneous in their value, both across measures and within measure, across individuals. As a result, generalizations in everyday discourse about the value of prevention can be overly broad. Third, health insurance coverage for medical preventive measures should generally be more extensive than coverage for the treatment of a medical condition, though full coverage of preventive services is not necessarily optimal
Actuarial science · Business · Political science · Preventive healthcare · Public health · Computer Science · Health disparities and outcomes · Health Promotion and Cardiovascular Prevention · Healthcare Policy and Management · Law · Medicine · Nursing
Community-based health programs and child vaccinations
Origins and developmental paths of medical conditions from mid-childhood to mid-adolescence in Australia
Universal Early-Life Health Policies in the Nordic Countries
Unmet needs and the effect of healthcare system generosity on prevention activity - A multilevel analysis
Trajectories and individual determinants of regular cancer screening use over a long period based on data from the French E3N cohort
| Citations per year | 1.25 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2022 - 2024 (3) |
| Highly cited | No |