If more people took care of their hearts health care costs would go way down. Many of the elderly, (those on Medicare and others,) have heart problems or are at risk of getting them. This tells about seven ways to take care of your heart and also the affect this would have on Medicare is discussed.
Key Takeaways:
- The American Heart Association’s Life’s Simple 7 is a composite measure of seven modifiable heart-healthy factors: cigarette smoking, physical activity, diet, body mass index, blood pressure, cholesterol and glucose levels.
- Participants with fewer Life’s Simple 7 scores were more likely to be women, black or be unmarried, or have an annual income less than $20,000 or have less than a high school education.
- Total inpatient and outpatient healthcare expenditures were $5,016 less for participants with the most ideal heart-healthy factors compared to those with the least number of factors.
“More than $41 billion a year in Medicare costs could be saved if all beneficiaries achieved ideal levels for five to seven heart-healthy habits to reduce cardiovascular risk, according to new research in Journal of the American Heart Association, the Open Access Journal of the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association.”
https://www.google.com/url?rct=j&sa=t&url=https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2017-02/aha-shh013017.php&ct=ga&cd=CAIyGjM5ZjM5OTY2MWYzZGRiYzA6Y29tOmVuOlVT&usg=AFQjCNGyilWh0gLgROyMf-fPESCoF1pICg