Bill Frist: Good Behavior, Not Obamacare, Will Make You Live Longer

What’s the Big Idea?

According to physician and former Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, the major problem with health care in the U.S. is the country spends twice as much on health care as the average developed country and gets an outcome that is only half as good.

Sponsored by:

If we look at infant mortality, life expectancy or just about any index of outcomes, Frist says we are not getting the return on our investment, and that is because our public dialogue is too narrowly focused on health services. According to Frist, whatever system we choose, whether it is Obamacare, Clintoncare or Nixoncare, has a relatively small impact on how long we live as compared to behavior and genetics.

Watch Bill Frist here:

What’s the Significance?

Frist delivered these remarks at The Nantucket Project, a festival of ideas that took place this month on Nantucket Massachusetts. The theme of the event was “Rethink,” and speakers from different fields discussed how to rethink the way we approach industries like finance and education. Rethinking Medicine, however, was given special attention in a panel discussion that followed Frist’s remarks, and that panel can be viewed here: