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MONDAY, June 10, 2019 (HealthDay News) — Health care has modest effects on extending life expectancy in the United States, while behavioral and social determinants may have larger effects, according to a review published in the May\/June issue of the Annals of Family Medicine<\/i>.<\/p>\n
Robert M. Kaplan, Ph.D. and Arnold Milstein, M.D., M.P.H., both from Stanford University in California, examined four different methods of estimating the effect of health care on health outcomes: (1) analyses by McGinnis and Schroeder; (2) Wennberg and colleagues’ studies of small area variation; (3) Park and colleagues’ analysis of County Health Rankings and Roadmaps; and (4) the RAND Health Insurance Experiment.<\/p>\n
The researchers found that using different data sets, the four methods yielded estimates ranging from 0 to 17 percent of premature mortality attributable to deficiencies in health care access or delivery. For behavioral and social factors, estimates of the effect ranged from 16 to 65 percent.<\/p>\n
“The recently enacted Chronic Care Act allowing Medicare Advantage plans to cover interventions beyond traditionally defined health care is a step in the right direction,” the authors write. “Due to a longer duration of health benefit, extending similar coverage policies to pregnant women and children enrolled in Medicaid may generate even higher yields.”<\/p>\n