What is the value of making lives longer and healthier? Is living longer no matter what more valuable than staying healthy? How does the value of treating aging comprehensively compare to eradicating diseases specifically? These thoughtful questions were addressed using an economic model rather than the traditional biological model in a University of Oxford study, “The Economic Value of Targeting Aging,” and a McKinsey Health Institute paper entitled “Adding Years to Life and Life to Years.”
Life expectancy has increased dramatically over the past century but so have chronic non-communicable diseases, now accounting for over 70% of deaths in America. Just adding years of unhealthy live is not a worthy goal nor is addressing a specific disease. Measuring healthy aging by the value of a statistical life (VSL) places a monetary value on living a longer and healthier life. Total life expectancy as a metric has been a standard, but now VSL gives a more comprehensive and inclusive measurement. Focusing on a healthy and functional life creates a virtuous cycle for a more successful society by adding economic benefits that can be reinvested.
On average, people spend about 50% of their lives in less-than-good health, a percentage that hasn’t changed much in the last 50 years. What has increased is overall life expectancy, thus making the absolute total time in poor health more abundant. Thus, the total number of years in poor health has increased because the duration of life in good health has remained broadly constant.
Thinking of prevention as an investment rather than a cost could address 40% of the disease burden. The concept of “squaring the healthy life expectancy curve,” namely increasing the time spent in good health both in absolute and percentage time, is an admirable goal with not only altruistic benefits but also economic well-being. Increasing the years a person is healthy and productive by decreasing the time spent sick and needy helps the individual and society in general. The following is an effective educational graphic gleaned from the McKinsey Health Institute.
Health and well-being are more than the absence of disease and impairment. Involving four major characteristics makes for a better life:
Understanding the difference between a longer life and a healthy longer life is necessary to take actions to accomplish a noble goal—a longer, happier, and healthier life.