Dana Goldman, an economist and professor of policy and medicine at University of Southern California, wants Americans to rethink health care and maybe save a few bucks along the way.
Goldman, who is director of the Leonard D. Schaeffer Center for Health Policy and Economics, appeared on Morning Joe Thursday, where he championed the idea of turning our health care system on its head by spending more money reimbursing doctors and patients for preventative health care measures, such as going for a walk.
“When we think about education, we think about it as an investment. It’s an investment in building human capital so we can go out and be productive members of society, and health care is the same way,” he said. “The investments are in health. Where we have failed in reform is that we shouldn’t be reimbursing for health care inputs, things like getting treated. We should be reimbursing for health and when you think about it that way, it leads to a lot of different policies than what we have now.”
Goldman argued in a New York Times interview published in May that such measures could combat some of the country’s most expensive health issues, such as obesity and smoking.
“We need to reimburse in such a way that we encourage the right type of solution, the best one for society, and it may be exercise and diet-related,” he said on Morning Joe.