Events

Past Event

Dana Goldman - The Economic Returns to Delayed Aging: Promises and Pitfalls

December 5, 2017
1:00 PM - 2:30 PM
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Allan Rosenfield Building (Room 440), 722 West 168th Street, New York

Dana Goldman, PhD, Leonard D. Schaeffer Director’s Chair, Schaeffer Center for Health Policy & Economics, University of Southern California

Most medical research remains focused on combating individual diseases, despite robust evidence that delayed aging remains a realistic goal. Using the Future Elderly Model, a microsimulation of future health and spending of older Americans, we compared optimistic disease specific scenarios with a delayed aging scenario to see their effects on longevity, disability, and Federal spending. We find that delayed aging is a particularly good investment, as it could increase life expectancy by an additional 2.2 years, most of which would be spent in good health. The value to society is $7 trillion over fifty years. Disease-specific investments have more modest returns, mainly due to competing risks. The fiscal challenges of delayed aging are manageable through modest policy changes. Overall, more research to delay aging appears to be a highly efficient way to forestall disease, extend healthy life, and improve public health, albeit with the potential to exacerbate existing health disparities.

To attend, please RSVP to: [email protected].

Dana Goldman is the Leonard D. Schaeffer Chair and a Distinguished Professor of Pharmacy, Public Policy, and Economics at the University of Southern California.  He also directs the Schaeffer Center for Health Policy and Economics, a centerpiece of one of the nation’s premier health policy and management programs (ranked #3 in 2016 by US News & World Report).  He also is a founder of Precision Health Economics, a health economics consultancy with offices nationwide.

This event is sponsored by The Robert N. Butler Columbia Aging Center and is part of the Columbia Aging Center Brown Bag Seminar series.