Focusing on Health and Not Simply Health Care

As Americans consider the future of health coverage, there is one continually undervalued area worthy of attention, namely prevention. The article reviews the significant gains from the Affordable Care Act as well as the remaining needs to promote health and well-being and not solely focus on the treatment of illness and injury. It identifies changes in policies that would broaden future goals beyond the receipt of clinical care to the creation of a health system committed to also recognizing and addressing the social determinants of health and meaningfully incorporating consumers, particularly those with elevated risk of preventable illness, injury, and death, in policymaking.