Authorsof the McKinesy report contend that debate over health as aninvestment has been sidelined amid wider policy discussions overthe rising cost of health care.

A new comprehensive report arriving as the coronavirus pandemicworsens in the United States contends employers and policymakersshould consider health more as an investment than a managedcost.

The McKinsey Global Institute report, "Prioritizing Health: A Prescription forProsperity," examines connections between improvements inhealth and benefits to individuals, communities and economies.

"As countries emerge from the COVID-19 crisis, we have aonce-in-a-generation opportunity to rethink the role of health in apost-pandemic future," the authors write. "Making health a priorityand shifting focus to areas with highest return can improveresilience, reduce health inequity, and promote greater individual,social, and economic well-being."

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The report broadly contends that debate over health as aninvestment has been sidelined amid wider policy discussions overthe rising cost of health care. The report does not make spendingrecommendations, but instead sets out "to provide insight into whatis possible to achieve with a broad-based improvement in globalhealth."

Governments globally "should consider developing and deliveringhealthy life agendas, including labor market and employmentpolicies, that deliver both health and economic benefits," theauthors write.

The report urges policymakers to weigh health considerationsamid efforts to confront and minimize the COVID-19 pandemic.Governments could need to ramp up their interaction with technologyoutlets "to integrate and embed robust data and advanced analyticsinto health monitoring, policy development, and decision making,"the report says.

Labor and employment policies should be prioritized, the authorsassert.

"Ensuring that individuals can work in an environment thatmaximizes their physical and mental health would go a long waytoward realizing the health benefits we size," the authors write."This might include broadening opportunities for people withdisabilities and encouraging the participation of older workers inthe labor force by addressing work discrimination and financialdisincentives to extend working lives."

The report also outlines an argument for encouraging theparticipation of older workers. "We estimate that increasing theparticipation of older workers could boost GDP by more than $2.4trillion by 2040," the report says. "Policymakers could explorephased and flexible retirement policies that encourage workers toremain in the labor force while receiving pensions and offertraining programs that improve employability."

The authors argue that health care providers and health systemsshould not control long-term prevention and health promotion.

"Most health care providers have an opportunity to expand thescope and ambition of their prevention-focused services, helpingpatients cultivate and sustain positive health behaviors," thereport says.

Greater collaboration among tech, pharmaceutical companies,health providers and payers "could help achieve the necessary pivotto prevention and community healthcare and scaling of the mosteffective interventions," according to the report.

"Payers can consider encouraging more innovative care deliverythrough closer connection with healthcare providers and engagingmembers through digital and virtual channels (building on manysuccessful experiments from the crisis," the report says.

Digital therapeutics have enjoyed renewed focus amid thepandemic, as prescription software alternatives offer opportunitiesto deliver care without physical contact. Online therapeutics arepoised to change health care by allowing for the diagnosis,management, and treatment of medical conditions in a low-cost,scalable way," the Boston-based tech advisory firm Lux Researchreported recently.

Read more:

• Employee benefits in 2021: Embrace thetransformation
• Remixing retirement and work for more engagedand productive employees
• How the U.S.'s failure to invest in publichealth has fueled a pandemic
• 'Digital therapeutics' enjoy new attention amidCOVID-19 crisis

Mike Scarcella is a senior editor at Law.comin Washington. Contact him at [email protected] and onTwitter @MikeScarcella.