Preventive Medicine As a Cost-Saver Is a Myth: CBO

This next item is a few days old, but it’s worth repeating:

Expanding preventive medical services may well improve public health, but it is highly unlikely to save the government money, the Congressional Budget Office said Friday.

In a letter to leaders of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, CBO director Douglas W. Elmendorf said the evidence suggests that the cost of making services such as cancer screening, cholesterol management, vaccinations and wellness training broadly available would far outweigh any savings ultimately generated.

That’s from the Washington Post.

So much for the magical ability of preventive care to sustain the unsustainable (“free” health care through government).

(Cross-posted from State House Call.)

Permission to reprint this blog post in whole or in part is hereby granted, provided that the author (or authors) and the Mackinac Center for Public Policy are properly cited.