A new comprehensive report arriving as the coronavirus pandemic worsens in the United States contends employers and policymakers should consider health more as an investment than a managed cost.

The McKinsey Global Institute report, "Prioritizing Health: A Prescription for Prosperity," examines connections between improvements in health and benefits to individuals, communities and economies.

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

The report broadly contends that debate over health as an investment has been sidelined amid wider policy discussions over the rising cost of health care. The report does not make spending recommendations, but instead sets out "to provide insight into what is possible to achieve with a broad-based improvement in global health."

Governments globally "should consider developing and delivering healthy life agendas, including labor market and employment policies, that deliver both health and economic benefits," the authors write.

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

Labor and employment policies should be prioritized, the authors assert.

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

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

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

"Most health care providers have an opportunity to expand the scope and ambition of their prevention-focused services, helping patients cultivate and sustain positive health behaviors," the report says.

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

"Payers can consider encouraging more innovative care delivery through closer connection with healthcare providers and engaging members through digital and virtual channels (building on many successful experiments from the crisis," the report says.

Digital therapeutics have enjoyed renewed focus amid the pandemic, as prescription software alternatives offer opportunities to deliver care without physical contact. Online therapeutics are poised 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 Research reported recently.

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Mike Scarcella is a senior editor at Law.com in Washington. Contact him at mscarcella@alm.com and on Twitter @MikeScarcella.

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'Once in a generation opportunity' to rethink health as investment: McKinsey report

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