Three of the most powerful women in the country made a public statement earlier this week announcing plans for a new type of preventative health care coverage that will be available under a provision of the Affordable Care Act.
First Lady Michelle Obama, Dr. Jill Biden, and Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius addressed reporters in a conference call on Wednesday afternoon. A statement, which was issued before the call, said that “chronic and often preventable diseases, such as heart disease, cancer, and diabetes, are responsible for seven of 10 deaths among Americans each year and account for 75 percent of the nation’s health spending. In addition, obese individuals have health care costs 39 percent above average.
Preventative care can help head such ailments off before they have a chance to materially affect the health of Americans, experts say. In addition to providing large-scale savings on health care, life insurance rates could become more affordable, since healthier people are generally much less of a risk to insure.