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<p>This one is the same misleading thought as “better preventative care will reduce illness and save money”. The problem is that the mortality rate for being human is 100%. </p>
<p>Consider two 50 year old guys. One is fanatical about health, avoids all unhealthy practices, moves to a place of blue skies and pure water, gets the proper amount of exercise and eats a macrobiotic vegan diet. The other takes a cigarette out of his mouth just long enough to cram in another cheeseburger. And lighting up is his idea of a workout. The first guy will be healthier, and on average he will live longer. But 60 years from now both will be dead. Before they die both will have a good chance of using up health care dollars. Patient A’s lifestyle will reduce his risk of diabetes, but he can still get heart disease, cancer, or suffer trauma. </p>
<p>No matter how careful people may be about their health, they will still get sick and die. All of them. So lifestyle will simply shift the mix of diseases from those largely determined by life choices (type II diabeters) to those that one cannot avoid.</p>
<p>The evidence says that preventative care does not save money, and healthy living simply postpones expenses, but does not eliminate them.</p>