Addressing The Social Determinants Of Health With Income Assistance

Last week we wrote about the importance of good nutrition for improving consumer outcomes and lowering the cost of care (see What Does The Farm Bill Have To Do With Health Care?). Adults who are food insecure have health insurance costs $1,863 higher than adults who have access to adequate nutrition.

Underlying this issue and the many other social determinants of health (adequate housing, transportation, education, etc.) is income. Poverty (imperfectly defined as having income below the federal poverty level) does matter when it comes to health status and health care spending. We've reported on the "costs" of . . .