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The Power of Online Learning to Scale the Future of Behavioral Health
My life’s work has taken me down a path where I’ve learned and witnessed the incredible power of online education, and how it can be scaled to improve the future and quality of health care. My journey began 20 years ago in a general psychotherapist practice, and after 10 years took an unexpected turn. I was asked to become a counselor at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot in San Diego. I had no prior military experience, and I knew it would be a challenge to adequately un...
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When Life Gives You Health-Care Reform
I was walking with colleagues, discussing how the latest round of health-care payment reforms would finally cure health care, when we came across the ultimate symbol of American entrepreneurialism: a young girl had set up a lemonade stand with a sign advertising 25 cents a cup. “I’ll take one!” I declared, in support of this young girl and lemonade in general. As I attempted to settle my tab, my colleague stated that he too would like a cup of lemonade and was willi...
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Aging in the Future of Health
When the Senate Aging Committee was first established in 1961, 9 percent of Americans were over age 65. Today, 15 percent of our population has reached that milestone, and by 2060, nearly one out of four Americans will surpass their 65th birthday with more and more Americans living to 100 every year. The future of health will be defined by this growing demographic. As chairman of the Senate Aging Committee and a senator representing the oldest state in the nation,...
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Longevity and the Future of Health
We’re at a unique time in our history. Increased longevity is converging with unprecedented innovations in biomedical research, genomics, health, and technology to disrupt aging in ways previously unimaginable—empowering us to choose how we live as we age. We have made tremendous progress with health and health care. But as millions of people are living longer, we’re beginning to realize our health has more to do with the choices we make each day than it does an occa...
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Creating a New Culture of Food
Tell me if you’ve heard this one before. There was once a wise old rabbi. One day, a troublemaker arrived in town. Facing the rabbi, he held a bird behind his back. “If you are indeed so wise, Rabbi,” he said, “tell me if the bird I’m holding is dead or alive.” The rabbi quickly realized that if he declared the bird alive, the man would break the bird’s neck and present a dead bird; if the rabbi said the bird was dead, he would let the bird fly free. The rabbi paus...
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Transforming a Broken System
Health-care costs today are on a path to bankrupt our nation. Fast-rising costs are straining family budgets due to long-term stagnation of real income and prevailing fears regarding job security. Frustrated by a squeeze on costs and worried care won’t be there when they need it, Americans have unprecedented levels of anger with and distrust in the health-care system. It’s undeniable. We have a problem. The system needs to be transformed. As a nonprofit health plan ...
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Aging in the Future of Health
When the Senate Aging Committee was first established in 1961, 9 percent of Americans were over age 65. Today, 15 percent of our population has reached that milestone, and by 2060, nearly one out of four Americans will surpass their 65th birthday with more and more Americans living to 100 every year. The future of health will be defined by this growing demographic. As chairman of the Senate Aging Committee and a senator representing the oldest state in the nation,...
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Setting the Course for a Positive Future of Health
A convergence of advances in medicine, technology, and behavioral science will shape the future of health and health care to look dramatically different than they do today. The fundamental health-care challenge of the 21st century is no longer only infectious disease. Globally more than twice as many people die from chronic diseases that could have been prevented by a change in lifestyle than infectious disease. Chronic, lifestyle-preventable disease will cost the gl...