The right change in focus at the right time can make all the difference. Rather than continuing to fixate on life span and life expectancy, what would happen with a shift of attention to a measure of health span or health expectancy?

The Aspen Health Stewardship Project defines health span as “how long we live with the best possible health” and asserts that health span is worth $1.277 trillion to the U.S. – the combined value of treatment ($277 billion) and lost productivity ($1 trillion) attributed to cancers, diabetes, heart disease, hypertension, stroke, mental disorders and pulmonary conditions.

Call it what you like. Let’s just do it. Regardless of how much money it’s worth, we can point to 58% of Arizonans with at least one chronic condition who would be motivated to experience a healthier quality of life.