New study shows public health dollars go far

A new study from UC Berkeley School of Public Health’s Timothy Brown finds that investing in public health reduces public assistance medical care costs.

The study determined that, at the county level, for every $1 invested in county-level public health expenditures, there is a reduction of an average of $3.12 in public assistance medical care costs for the county. Brown emphasizes that this study proves that public health interventions not only positively impact the health of citizens but also provide financial incentives for the state.

“This research, combined with my previous research, shows that public health activities not only reduce mortality and improve the health of Californians but are so effective that far fewer people need to access Medi-Cal because their health is so much better,” Brown, a health economics professor and associate director of research at the Berkeley Center for Health Technology, said. “Public health activities actually save money for the government.”