Advancing America’s holistic health

Individual and collective health are paramount to productivity, happiness, and overall societal progress in America. Truly enhancing well-being requires adopting an approach to health that adds not only years to life but also life to years.

Health is “not merely the absence of disease or infirmity,” according to WHO.¹“Constitution,” WHO, accessed on March 7, 2025. Good workplace health involves holistic health, which is an integrated view of an individual’s mental, physical, spiritual, and social functioning. To make meaningful strides toward achieving this, healthcare and government leaders will need to prioritize three critical areas:

• improving longevity through a focus on holistic and accessible health for all
• enhancing productivity by reducing duplication and administrative waste across the healthcare value chain
• driving innovation in care delivery and treatment development, bolstered by AI and technological advances

By addressing these areas, the United States can unlock the potential to extend healthy lifespans by approximately six years and simultaneously reduce healthcare system costs by billions of dollars. This article explores how these priorities can shape a healthier, more prosperous future.

Focus on healthy longevity and access to healthcare

Expanding lifespans of US citizens has been one of the greatest achievements of the past century: The average lifespan increased from 47 years in 1900 to 78 years in 2022.²Diane Whitmore Schanzenbach, Ryan Nunn, and Lauren Bauer, “The changing landscape of American life expectancy,” Hamilton Project, June 23, 2016. But while people are living longer, they aren’t necessarily living healthier. On average, people spend 50 percent of their lives in poor health, a ratio that has remained consistent over the past 50 years (Exhibit 1).³Erica Coe, Martin Dewhurst, Lars Hartenstein, Anna Hextall, and Tom Latkovic, “Adding years to life and life to years,” McKinsey Health Institute, March 29, 2022.

Overall life expectancy has increased over the past 60 years.

But the proportion of life in good health has not increased.

Exhibit 1

With the US fertility rate dropping by 3 percent in 2022, by 2034, older adults are expected to outnumber children for the first time in US history.⁴“An aging nation: Projected number of children and older adults,” US Census Bureau, October 8, 2019; “U.S. fertility rate drops to another historic low,” US National Center for Health Statistics, April 25, 2024. This demographic shift presents significant challenges to economic development, health, and societal structures. But it also offers a rare opportunity to focus on healthy longevity, which aims to improve both life expectancy and the quality of life for all ages.

Globally, this could add an estimated 45 billion extra years of higher-quality life over the next decade, or about six years, on average, per person.⁵Erica Coe, Martin Dewhurst, Lars Hartenstein, Anna Hextall, and Tom Latkovic, “Adding years to life and life to years,” McKinsey Health Institute, March 29, 2022. Investing in healthy longevity is crucial for stability and economic prosperity. Supporting the reentry of older adults into the workforce could mitigate labor force challenges and boost US GDP by up to 6.7 percent.⁶The promise of longevity for human health and prosperity, a joint report from FII Institute and McKinsey Health Institute, October 1, 2024. A McKinsey Health Institute report produced with the FII Institute outlines eight potential avenues to promote healthy longevity, unlocking health and economic benefits for all Americans: societal participation; investment in scientific research; prevention-focused healthcare; accessible housing, transportation, and education; public safety; financial security; technology-driven healthcare support; and consumer-focused wellness products (Exhibit 2).

Women suffer disproportionately in the longevity race. Despite advances in healthcare, women spend an average of nine years in poor health, primarily during their working years. This disparity affects workforce productivity and community building. American women have the lowest life expectancy (80 years) among high-income countries, with disparities further marked by geography and by race and ethnicity.⁷Giuliana Grossi, “US women face worst health access, outcomes among high-income nations,” AJMC, August 15, 2024.

The United States has one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the developed world: In 2022, an estimated 800 women died from pregnancy or delivery complications.⁸Donna L. Hoyert, “Maternal Mortality Rates in the United States, 2022,” NCHS Health E-Stats, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2024. Annually, an estimated two-thirds of US maternal mortality deaths are believed to be preventable. Rural residents and women of color—particularly Black, American Indian, and Alaskan Native women—face higher risks of severe pregnancy complications and mortality than their peers do. Addressing these issues requires reinvestment in maternal health, especially in underserved rural areas and “maternity-care deserts.”⁹Government-funded initiatives, such as the Transforming Maternal Health Model and the Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting Program, demonstrate the potential benefits of investing in maternal and child health to enhance overall US health and economic participation.

Reduce duplication and administrative waste

Administrative waste in healthcare is familiar to anyone in the United States who has waited on hold with their provider, payer, or pharmacy benefits manager; had to repeatedly fill out paper forms; or tried to reconcile an explanation of benefits from their payer with a bill from their provider. This administrative waste not only causes conflicts for stakeholders across the healthcare value chain but also drives up healthcare costs.

While there is meaningful complexity in the processes that connect payers, providers, pharmacies, regulators, brokers, and other players in the healthcare value chain, a few fundamental strategies can help strengthen processes, reduce errors that require rework, and improve the customer experience:

• Strengthen core processes. Reducing waste in the US healthcare system begins with strengthening core processes, such as claim management, enrollment operations, and patient scheduling. Streamlining these processes minimizes inefficiencies, reduces administrative burdens, and ensures that resources are allocated effectively. Leveraging automation and AI can further improve accuracy and speed, cutting down on costly errors and delays that affect both providers and patients.
• Build effective services on top of core processes. Developing robust services as add-ons to improved core processes is crucial for long-term efficiency. This includes implementing patient-friendly digital tools, such as appointment reminders, telehealth platforms, and cost transparency portals. These services not only enhance the patient experience but also drive better health outcomes by improving access, engagement, and adherence to care plans.
• Improving coordination among stakeholders. Collaboration among payers, providers, and other stakeholders reduces fragmentation and waste across the healthcare ecosystem. Improved data sharing through interoperable systems, eliminating or reducing high-cost processes (such as prior authorization), and implementing value-based contracting models are examples of services or capabilities that can cut down waste in the system. Improving coordination among stakeholders can reduce redundant services, prevent gaps in care, and promote a more unified approach to addressing patient and member needs.

Drive innovation and better outcomes in healthcare

The healthcare landscape is already evolving toward a more resilient and patient-centered model that includes accelerating innovation, refocusing resources on outcome-based programs (which focus on achieving positive results for patients rather than just providing them with services), and promoting holistic health and wellness using a national platform. Healthcare innovation supports patient-centric and accessible forms of care, unearthing three possible opportunities:

• Investing in at-home and virtual care can increase patient satisfaction while reducing costs. By using telemedicine and remote-monitoring technologies, patients can receive prompt medical attention with the flexibility to manage their care and without the expense of hospital visits.
• Using AI and next-generation medical technology can enhance clinical-decision support, diagnosis, and treatment, substantially improving the speed and accuracy of healthcare delivery. AI-driven tools can rapidly analyze vast data sets, identifying patterns and potential issues that are beyond the scope of human analysis.
• Streamlining drug development processes by integrating advanced technologies and efficient data management can help pharmaceutical companies reduce research and production expenses, thereby keeping drug prices in check.

Investing in outcome-based programs and scaling effective interventions could lead to an overall decreased disease burden. Possible actions include the following:

• Reforming chronic-disease spending to focus on outcome-based programs can lead to more Americans benefiting from the healthcare system.¹⁰McKinsey analysis finds that US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention annually spends approximately $317 billion on cardiovascular disease, $300 billion on smoking-related health issues, $245 billion on diabetes, $171 billion on cancer, $147 billion on obesity-related health issues, and $117 billion on issues related to inadequate physical activity. Prioritizing interventions that demonstrate measurable health improvements can result in more effective resource allocation and ultimately improve the health of the people using the healthcare system.
• Tracking comprehensive health data can enhance the ability to monitor program effectiveness, enabling providers and policymakers to make data-driven decisions on interventions that yield the best outcomes. The barriers to setting up electronic health records are many—including cost, lack of training and time, poor computer literacy, and challenges with interoperability. But tracking health records with the help of technology can make it easier to identify which metrics are important in determining the success of a program, enabling effective decisions on program operations and resource allocations. For example, key drivers of the women’s health gap include deficiencies in care delivery, treatment efficacy, and data collection. McKinsey’s 2025 blueprint outlines five actions to close this gap.¹¹Kweilin Ellingrud, Lucy Pérez, Anouk Petersen, and Valentina Sartori, “Closing the women’s health gap: A $1 trillion opportunity to improve lives and economies,” McKinsey Health Institute, January 17, 2024. These include improving data collection methodologies to set standards for and better understand women’s health, conducting research on conditions specific to women, adopting clinical guidelines that reflect evidence-based and gender-specific care, ensuring health affordability and access, and allocating resources to women’s health and supporting women in leadership roles across health and social systems.
• Promoting holistic health and wellness through public education can empower individuals to make informed health decisions. Integrating holistic and interdisciplinary care can enhance well-being in later life, enabling Americans to sustain their quality of life and independence longer.¹²Martin Dewhurst, Katherine Linzer, Madeline Maud, and Christoph Sandler, “Living longer in better health: Six shifts needed for healthy aging,” McKinsey Health Institute, November 11, 2022.
• Educating the public about the entire care ecosystem—an action performed by both government and healthcare systems—can provide individuals with the knowledge to navigate healthcare options effectively, encouraging them to take a proactive role in their health management.¹³For more, see Kara Carter, Elissa Chalouhi, Sorcha McKenna, and Ben Richarson, “What it takes to make integrated care work,” Health International, 2011, Number 11. This awareness leads to personalized healthcare plans that anticipate needs and mitigate potential health issues before they escalate.
• Introducing interdisciplinary forms of care can foster collaboration among a range of healthcare professionals to deliver comprehensive and coordinated care. This approach ensures that treatment plans incorporate diverse perspectives and expertise, addressing all facets of a patient’s health.

Reforming and strengthening the US healthcare system is not only an economic imperative but also a path to delivering better care to patients. By tackling inefficiencies, the industry can create a more sustainable system and deliver a better experience for all.

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