Sign up for updates
Prevention Institute
Sign up for updates
  • About Us
    • Our Approach
    • Our Staff
    • Board and Advisors
    • Funders
    • Jobs & Internships
    • Contact Us
    • Directions to Prevention Institute
    • Support Us
  • Focus Areas
    • Adverse Community Experiences and Resilience
    • Health Equity and Racial Justice
    • Mental Health & Wellbeing
    • Safety
    • Prevention in California
    • Park Equity
    • Health Systems Transformation
    • Healthy Food & Active Environments
    • Land Use and Housing
    • Convergence Partnership
  • Tools
    • Collaboration Multiplier
    • THRIVE
    • The Spectrum of Prevention
    • View All Tools
  • Services
    • Overview
    • Examples of Our Work
    • Training & Presentations
    • Testimonials
    • Request Services
  • Newsroom
    • Blog
    • PI in the News
    • Press Releases
    • Reporter Resources
    • Updates from PI
    • Events
  • Resources
    • Featured Publications
    • Learn About Prevention
    • Multimedia
  • Policy
  • twitter
  • facebook
  • YouTube
  • linkedin
  • Instagram
  • Soundcloud

Closing the Loop: Why We Need to Invest—and Reinvest—in Prevention

Larry Cohen

Date Published:  September 2014

Summary

There’s a growing consensus among policymakers and health planners that if we want to improve health outcomes and lower costs we must change community conditions in ways that support health and prevent illness and injury before they occur. In their article, Larry and Tony outline some of the essential elements of a sustainable funding mechanism. They argue that we need to “close the loop” by ensuring that when prevention efforts DO save money, substantial portions of that money get plowed back into prevention.  While many payment strategies rely on healthcare to foot the bill for emerging prevention efforts, a closing-the-loop strategy would ensure that much of the funding for prevention could emerge from taxes, fees, legal settlements and other measures,  reducing the burden on health care.  The paper begins on a provocative note:

“What would you say about an investment that returned 5,500 percent? If you were lucky enough to have made the investment, you’d probably look for ways to reinvest most of it to earn more  of those hefty returns.”

They point to a fascinating study released last year by UC-San Francisco researchers, which found that California invested $2.4 billion from cigarette taxes into the state’s tobacco control program—and got a whopping $134 billion return—5,500 percent—in the form of reduced medical expenditures. And yet, as the paper points out, very little of that $134 billion in savings went back into further efforts to prevent smoking.  That needs to change.

Health Delivery and Payment Transformation

Download Publication(s)

  • Closing the Loop: Why We Need to Invest—and Reinvest—in Prevention
Download All
image description
Oakland (main)
221 Oak St
Oakland, CA 94607
510-444-7738
Los Angeles
4315 Leimert Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90008
323-294-4527
Washington, D.C.
Please contact Sana Chehimi to reach PI’s DC based staff.
Houston
2520 Caroline St Suite 100
Houston, TX 77004
STAY CONNECTED
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Youtube
  • LinkedIn
  • Instagram
  • Soundcloud