Federal policymakers continue to turn a blind eye to the social determinants of health (SDOH), despite overwhelming evidence that non-medical factors substantially determine population health and longevity. Clinical care averts only roughly 10% of premature deaths, yet congressional efforts to addresss SDOH have been nearly nonexistent—yielding just two underfunded SDOH bills this decade. The CDC’s SDOH program legislated in 2020 operates in a diminished capacity while high-priority legislation like Sen. Blumenthal’s “Social Determinants for Moms Act,” introduced this past March, languishes with a mere three co-sponsors.
In his work Dr. Bezruchka highlights core systemic failures, for example, health is anchored in the first 1,000 days of life yet we lack a federal maternal leave policy; modern medicine treats disease not the patient, i.e., overlooks biopsychosocial context; and, runaway wealth inequality drives premature mortality across the spectrum. Not surprisingly, the US ranks ~33rd out of 38 OECD countries in life expectancy—that is also a direct result of spending disproportionately on clinical healthwhile starving our social service infrastructure, e.g., ~five million have lost SNAP benefits over the past year. As Dr. Bezruchka bluntly states, politics are determental our health.
Dr. Bezruchka’s website is at: https://stephenbezruchka.com/
Mentioned during this program, the now seminal 2013 IOM report, “US Health In International Perspective: Shorter Lives, Poorer Health,” is at: https://www.nationalacademies.org/projects/DBASSE-CEGIS-10-01
