Medicare Costs Can Be Reduced Through Preventive Care, Opinion Piece States

Physician John Knowles in 1975 wrote a book identifying the lack of emphasis on preventive care as a shortcoming of the U.S. health care system, and since then, "the shift toward prevention and detection has been salutary but insufficient," Robert Goldberg, vice president of the Center for Medicine in the Public Interest, writes in a Washington Times opinion piece. Goldberg writes, "In general, ... more people regard themselves in good to excellent health now than about a decade ago," adding, "We can thank spending on medical technologies that delay or prevent the emergence of disease for many of these gains."

Goldberg continues, "Indeed, Medicare cost could be controlled by spending more" on innovative medical technologies "and by keeping people healthy." According to Goldberg, "As the genetic variations that predict our risk of disease and response to treatment are translated into tests and treatment, the waste from trial and error or unproductive intervention will fall as well." However, "there is a lot we can do without much effort to save money and improve health," such as "[m]ore prevention, shifting care to lower-cost settings and rewarding people for healthier living" (Goldberg, Washington Times, 5/12).